TOBY SHAPSHAK: Why does TransUnion have my data?
Credit agencies are just another form of surveillance capitalism, and historical data access needs to be updated in this new age of personal protection
How many millions of data records were really stolen from TransUnion? Was it the higher number of 54-million ID numbers, or the lower number of 28-million credit records? Both are pretty damaging. More importantly, how did TransUnion — and Experian for that matter — get my personal information and data records?
I know that somewhere along the line, I asked for some kind of credit, and signed a form giving the banks and various credit agencies access to my personal data. It was the cost of using the system: if you want credit, you have to consent to being vetted by everybody and anybody. This is by virtue of surrendering all your personal data with credit data (how much you earn, your expenses, investments, credit record and much more) to this shadowy network of credit agencies, which hoover up your personal data and augment it with more details, like credit scores...
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