Americans’ private financial data is sold to debt collectors

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 19:11:00 +0000

One of the nation's biggest credit reporting agencies is selling the private financial information of millions of Americans to debt collectors and other financial service companies. Equifax, which maintains a database with the salary and employment records of more than one-third of U.S. adults, is passing on this information to third parties without ever informing the individuals whose information is being distributed, NBC reported.

"It's the biggest privacy breach in our time, and it’s legal and no one knows it’s going on," Robert Mather, who runs a small employment background company named Pre-Employ.com told NBC. "It's like a secret CIA," he said.

NBC explains how Equifax legally obtains and passes on so much information presumed private:

Salon.com > equifax

Americans’ private financial data is sold to debt collectors