Credit Karma is a reputable free credit monitoring solution that grants its users access to their credit scores and credit reports from TransUnion and Equifax. When opening an account for Credit Karma and viewing your credit information, you will be asked to submit personal information such as your name, address, date of birth, and social security number. This results in several individuals asking the question – is it safe to provide SSN to Credit Karma?
What Credit Karma Says
For example, on their security page, Credit Karma stated that they follow many procedures to safeguard your data. They claim that all the interactions between the website and the applications are secure through encryption. They also argue that their buildings as well as their computer servers are physically protected and even under surveillance. Also, they claim that they limit and control employee interactions with your information.
Therefore, Credit Karma should be safe to provide your SSN because it has certain security features that can protect you from other people obtaining or utilizing your details. They must have your SSN in any case since they require it to retrieve your credit reports.
But still, it is up to you whether or not to believe Credit Karma and provide them with personal information. Even though all these platforms might have security measures for protecting user data, there is no means that an average user can use to check the efficiency of their systems.
Potential Dangers of Submitting Your SSN to Credit Karma
However, credit karma has taken measures to assure users that their information is safe; however, there are inherent dangers every time you input your SSN online. Here are some potential dangers: Here are some potential dangers:
Data Breaches
There is no perfect system that can be implemented over the Internet. It is always possible for Credit Karma to experience data leakage where the personal details of users are exposed to hackers. The organization has not described any significant data breaches up to this time. But if hackers did get into their systems, all user's SSNs could be exposed.
Misuse of Data
Some members have also raised concerns regarding how Credit Karma uses the member data in marketing activities. Although it may not directly endanger your SSN it does lead to the question of whether or not it is responsible to share our information with companies. Critics merely state that one cannot dictate how Credit Karma can utilize your data in the background.
Identity Theft
The social security numbers of individuals are always sought by identity thieves in any way possible. If they were able to get a hold of your SSN, they could use it to obtain credit cards or even loans under your account. This could impact your credit and financial status greatly. Sharing your SSN to any company online involves some form of risk of increasing the chances of identity theft.
Credit Karma Credit Report Authorization: Other options as part of the Credit Karma sign-up process
If you are uncomfortable providing your SSN to Credit Karma, there are a few alternatives to consider: I
1. AnnualCreditReport. com
This is the official site where you can get a free copy of your reports from all three bureaus. It means that you can obtain your reports even if you do not provide your SSN. But you won’t receive all the monitoring advantages and recommendations Credit Karma offers.
2. Identity Monitoring Services
There are many companies out there such as IdentityForce and LifeLock that offer identity theft monitoring services while you do not have to part with your SSN. They patrol the black markets to check whether your information has been sold or is about to be sold. However, it should be noted that these services are not free and are available at a monthly subscription fee.
3. Individual Credit Reports
If you are temporarily or permanently unable to provide an SSN, you can still order your credit reports from the three main credit reporting agencies—Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. This may require you to answer some questions about your identity or even to pay some amount of money. But if you only occasionally check your reports, this grants you access without the consequences of SSN exposure.
The Bottom Line
In conclusion, the decision of whether to trust companies such as Credit Karma with personal details is an individual’s choice. Based on the information Credit Karma makes public, the site appears to have adequate measures of security to shield the users’ SSNs. However, it all comes down to weighing the pros and cons and which type of risk you are willing to take by sharing your SSN with any company online. Use other choices if you are not sure. However, you should remember that none of the options are completely safe from risks when it comes to the preservation of the identity and SSN nowadays.
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