A common question many people ask is whether they should give their information to Experian.
It is together with Equifax and TransUnion among the three prominent credit reporting agencies in the United States of America. These agencies gather financial and personal details about consumers to provide credit reports that help creditors evaluate creditworthiness for loans, credit cards, mortgages, and any other kind of credit. While so much highly personal information is being stored and processed at Experian, should the company’s client give them their details?
Experian collects data about credit accounts, credit reports, payment histories, credit limits, balances, bank information, employment and income details, inquiries, and transaction history.
The information Experian maintains in your credit file includes:
- Personal details that could be captured include; full names, current and previous residential addresses, social security numbers, and dates of birth.
- Credit cards, retail store cards, auto loans, mortgages, student loans, and others that you have opened.
- Maintenance of timely payment of credit account record
- Some forms of information include bad credit records such as bankruptcies, foreclosures, lawsuits, wage garnishments, and tax liens which are found in public records.
- Requests by lenders and others for details of your credit history
This gives a relatively good view of your current financial standing and your past and present financial activities. Some of this information is given by you at the time when you apply for credit, however, most of this data is reported to the credit bureau by your creditors and without your knowledge.
How Does Experian Secure Your Information?
Given the fact that Experian collects such a considerable amount of sensitive information, one would expect some certain level of attention to security measures. To the last disadvantage, one unfortunately has to admit that the company did have some security incidents in the past.
Later in 2015, Experian again faced a major data theft where some Identity thieves breached the company, and the T-Mobile customer data was stolen which included the names, addresses, social security numbers, and other important details of roughly 15 million consumers. Due to this, Experian’s failure to shield customer data exposed the company’s cyber security to criticism and more questions.
Experian, however, says that it has endeavored to make security enhancement its main corporate strategy ever since this highly publicized breach.
Some of the safeguards it now has in place include:
- Features such as encryption to ensure the data stored are encrypted to minimize the risks of individuals with malicious intent accessing personal information.
- Monitoring for advanced threats to avoid taking longer to identify abnormal or malicious behaviors on its systems
- Strict access control measures that require authorized permission to access any information.
- Frequency and periodicity of updates with the latest patches, new features to counter new threats
- Next, there is the disaster recovery system that is comprehensive to guarantee that operations continue as planned.
Experian also employs independent auditors who examine the firm’s information security program for potential risks or gaps at least once a quarter. Moreover, most consumer data is currently collected over its highly defended Decision Analytics array instead of many inputs.
Of course, cybercriminals are always in the process of evolving in terms of their levels of skill thus no company can provide a guarantee for 100% security. However, it seems that Experian has ramped up data protection a lot more today than before.
Is It possible to manage your Experian credit report?
This is so because as much as Experian gathers a lot of information you may not be directly involved, there are ways that you can use to control the data that you have on your credit report.
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, every consumer is entitled to:
- Get one credit report from three major credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion per year for free
- Correct any material that has been posted on your credit reports but is wrong, missing information, or cannot be verified.
- Put a security freeze on the compilation preventing identity thieves from accessing your credit files or opening credit in your name.
- Apply not to receive certain credit card offers to avoid receiving credit card offers that you never signed up for.
It is good practice to check your credit reports now and then not only if you have an active credit card. This enables you to monitor for any activity that seems erroneous, or if there is any indication of identity theft. To learn more about how to correct mistakes in your Experian credit report, then it is your legal right to dispute them.
To continue to engage in a positive information relationship with Experian, you can even create an account with Experian.com. The registered members get free daily credit reports updated in real time as well as other services that help protect their identity. At first, it may be counterintuitive to provide even more data to Experian, but it comes with more adjustability and openness.
Can Anyone’s Information Be Truly 100% Safe Now?
In the age of the internet, however, harmonized and secure security policies are being implemented, and no particular company or agency can assure the inviolability of one’s individual information. Hacking has evolved to become extremely complex and different governments have spent large amounts of money on hacking technologies and surveillance systems. And so in a sense, while consumers are not actively balancing risks versus rewards when they share information, they are at the very least somewhat aware of the concept.
However, credit reporting can be seen as one of the crucial components of the lending sphere that every responsible and independent consumer must deal with. Although events like the one that happened in 2015 are rightly said to have undermined confidence, much has been done by Experian to strengthen the areas of worry. It is always wise however to stay vigilant in monitoring the credit reports of oneself.
In the end, it depends upon the individual’s discretion what details he or she is willing to submit to Experian or any organization that can put it in the public domain through a leak. However, the complete elimination of credit has its cons such as; being locked out of the ability to apply for apartment rent or being locked out of reasonable interest rates on loans. The opt-out or security freeze provisions allowing consumers to take necessary actions let them harvest benefits without as many adverse effects.
Being careful about the privacy aspects while at the same time enjoying the various benefits of free annual credit reports and credit monitoring does not necessarily amount to foolishness; it is being prudent. Based on the current understanding, credit reporting agencies are still almost universally more helpful for most consumers in the long run, provided that consumers exercise appropriate caution as do the bureaus themselves.
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