Can anyone tell me what law(s) allow the cra's or anyone to collect private or personal Information ?
There is no law that specifically allows them to collect data - the only operative law is Gramm Leach Bliley (GLB) which states what they can DO with the information. That said, FCRA presupposes CRA's will be collecting sensitive information since FCRA states what ca be done with it and how long it can remain in the file.
Yes there are many laws that regulate the cra's and what they can do with the info. they collect. I would think that the collection of personal Information violates many federal and state laws. The privacy act etc. and whatever privacy the Constitution still provides. Anyone up for a class action suit ? lol
there is no constitutional right to privacy, as far as I know. Most privacy issues have come up as side-effects of technology developments that weren't even imaginable by the founding fathers 300 years ago. The closest thing, AFAIK, is the unreasonable search and seizure amendment (4th?)
True the word privacy is not in the constitution. The Constitution does not specifically mention a right to privacy. However, Supreme Court decisions over the years have established that the right to privacy is a basic human right, and as such is protected by virtue of the 9th Amendment. The right to privacy has come to the public's attention via several controversial Supreme Court rulings, including several dealing with contraception (the Griswold and Eisenstadt cases), interracial marriage (the Loving case), and abortion (the well-known Roe v Wade case). In addition, it is said that a right to privacy is inherent in many of the amendments in the Bill of Rights, such as the 3rd, the 4th's search and seizure limits, and the 5th's self-incrimination limit. That said I think we should go after the CRA's
I agree with you someone should test the waters on this issue.Some people don't like the government using illegal wire tapping.I think what the cra's do is far more serious.Are the people who work for the cra's screened?Could it be a lot of id theft is being caused by present and former cra employees?How well guarded is the information cra's collect?When did the first cra come to be and how did they get permission to do what they do?People do not realize that everyones future is in the hands of these people.The information they collect will decide if you get to own a car,a house,get a job,rent an apartment and on and on.Who gave them the right to do this?Why do we need 3 cra's?If 3 are better than 1 why not have 6 or 7?If knowing your credit score is so important why did they not include a free credit score when they passed the free annual credit report bill?Why did they find it necessary to pass the free annual credit report bill in the first place?
There may be no specific laws, but (almost) all of the information the CRAs collect, has been "authorized" by the consumer via credit applications, employment applications, credit transactions, etc. The "allowance" of the use of this information is all buried in the fine print of the account agreements that most of us do not read. If we truly read all the language in these agreements, we realize what we are authorizing re: information dissemination about ourselves. The main Act that the CRAs take heed on is the HIPPA. They are sensitive to the "privacy" consequences of this Act.
There used to be a bunch of local CRAs, then the three bought most of them up and cornered the market.
