Re: Los Angeles Times: Low-Tech Methods Used in Data Theft

In the US, this part is already true, sort of, partially. If you are turned down for credit, the place that turned you down must tell you the company that issued the report, and the credit bureau must give you a free copy.

You are entitled to a free report annually from each of the "big 3" agencies (TransUnion, Experian, Equifax) by going to

You can get them all at the same time, but you don't have to (usually it would be a better idea to space them out throughout the year). This isn't entirely in place yet, it's being rolled out geographically, it works for people in the West and Midwest now, the South will be added in June, the East in September.

The reports do indicate when companies got reports on you. It's a lot more frequent than most people would think. But it's (maybe a long time) after the fact that you find out. It's still very easy for unscrupulous individuals to get access to these reports. And this law doesn't cover sleaze like ChoicePoint.

Of course, that's just a start. They still claim they aren't responsible for damages to you that might be caused by their sale of incorrect or untrue information. Judging by ChoicePoint's case, there doesn't seem to be any penalty (except bad publicity, if it becomes public) for negligent handling of your data. And going by reports, it is still very difficult for the consumer to get corrections made.