[...]

"I've had a hellish time fixing their screwup, and have lost a job and been turned down by a landlord due to my wrecked credit," Pastore said. "Shouldn't the credit report companies have notified me before they released my data? Shouldn't they bear the cost of fixing the problems they caused?"

"Consumer privacy and corporate accountability are the major issues here," said Harvey Jacobs, a Washington, D.C., attorney. "The credit bureaus have to reevaluate how they release information, and they have to be held financially and legally accountable if the information is misused."

Some also see a conflict of interest in the fact that credit bureaus profit from consumers' security concerns. The three major credit-reporting bureaus each sell consumer services they promote as protection against identity fraud. For $80 a year, Experian's Credit Manager, for example, scans a subscriber's credit report daily and sends alerts of "potential fraudulent items and other critical changes" in the report. Credit bureaus Equifax and TransUnion offer similar services.
11:56:12 PM    

Miasma

This Modern World. These days when teachers warn kids about their permanent record, they really mean it! [Salon.com]
11:13:58 PM