Right plenty of evil just in the fact that they don't care about accuracy. Make them liable for not taking reasonable precautions to ensure accuracy and see how fast they improve their ability to correct.

However the fact that credit scores are often inaccurate is only one reason they should not be the basis for jobs or insurance. They really are not highly relevant.

My questions are--how is the system particularly vulnerable (as in, this system in this industry above and beyond any other) to the possibility?

I'm not sure, so I concede here that I am not being very convincing. In particular, since I have no hard data, we'll consign this to theory, however...

Is this theory or practice? If it is theory, is this a particularly threatening theory?

Theory I guess. But I do find it particularly threatening.

Put this way: President Obama signed into law a provision that can very easily be interpreted to allow indefinite detentions of natural born US citizens.

That it has not been used that way yet (that we know of) makes it theoretical, but no less dangerous.

But yes, that only holds if there is any validity to my concerns. But while I have no information that the concern is actually occurring, non-occurrence doesn't do much to allay my fears.

What sets it apart, or is the system/industry rife, and this is just one more example?

I feel like it's one more example of other system-wide problems.

I don't know if I'm clarifying myself any better here or just digging myself in deeper.

Sean, don't want to focus too much on this, but:

1) What is the incentive for this? I mean if they are going to send people credit reports anyway why fudge?

2) If this has been happening in the past, wouldn't they have been caught? I mean either an employee would turn whistle blower or one of the many many people who work for companies that subscribe to services would check the report they got directly against the one the company ordered?

3) Aren't there plenty of problems we can prove are happening? I mean I don't think anyone disputes that credit scores really get screwed up and the scorers have little incentive to fix it. And even if credit scores are accurate, they are being used to measure stuff they should not be. (Not undisputed, but I bet any fair weighing of the facts would conclude that. )

1) What is the incentive for this? I mean if they are going to send people credit reports anyway why fudge?

2) If this has been happening in the past, wouldn't they have been caught? I mean either an employee would turn whistle blower or one of the many many people who work for companies that subscribe to services would check the report they got directly against the one the company ordered?

I'm not sure, so yes, my earlier assertion on this point is pretty weak right now.

3) Aren't there plenty of problems we can prove are happening? I mean I don't think anyone disputes that credit scores really get screwed up and the scorers have little incentive to fix it. And even if credit scores are accurate, they are being used to measure stuff they should not be. (Not undisputed, but I bet any fair weighing of the facts would conclude that. )

Yes. This is my real concern, about the broader problems of the practice, rather than any specific point.

However, while I have no data whatsoever to back up my assertion that a credit score company may potentially be sending one report to an employer and a different one to you, Business As Usual in the corporate world is Massive, Staggering Corruption:

[link]

[link]

[link]

I could link to more, but with corporate corruption and malfeasance so pervasive, I have a very had time accepting that a danger is not dangerous, just because we have seen no instances of it.

We will see no instances of it until we see them. Not seeing them does not mean they are not there.

All I need to do tonight is wash the dishes and pay a couple of bills. Someone motivate me.

Wash the dishes, pay the bills, and then you can fuck around on the internet some more!

I did wash the dishes and update my budget and pay a bill! Now I'm going to take a shower and go to bed, pretty much. Whee?

Bed is good too! I like sleep.

I dragged a sick Tom out for a lovely Engagiversary dinner at a wonderful place I've crossed paths with doing fundraising work but never ate at. It was really great! Yay, and yum.

Haven't heard anything today about prospective renter. Short sale, here we come!