![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-16526-100x100.png\")
I'm too lazy to check it all right now, but what's the total cost (time & money) to get these reports?
1 replies
![\"user-pic\"](\"/css/images/default.gif\")
A couple of stamps, and free.
I'm too lazy to check it all right now, but what's the total cost (time & money) to get these reports?
A couple of stamps, and free.
ChoicePoint, the company that was busted selling personal information to criminals. Citizens should be able to opt-out of such services permenantly if they wish. And it should be a little more difficult for our information to even make it into one of these services to begin with. I did a check on myself at \"gotverified\" and it was riddled with inaccuracies and there appears to be no way to correct them *or* opt out easily. They hide behind the claims that it's \"public information.\"
Choicepoint is also one of the major companies that track what people buy at retail stores. It is rather concerning that they have that much data on one person.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-542811-100x100.png\")
ChoicePoint lists this: Opt-Out Policies
We allow consumers to opt-out of the dissemination of Personally Identifiable Information from ChoicePoint-owned marketing services databases. In addition, certain ChoicePoint products and services are subject to security freeze laws, which allow consumers to restrict access to certain consumer reports. Finally, we allow certain individuals to opt-out of certain ChoicePoint products and services as required by law and ChoicePoint policies. Please follow these links for more information about opt-out policies and security freezes.
The problem companies are those like Retail Equation - I just took a look, and you have to have a failed return transaction for them to send you a report. At least, that is what the site indicates - I suppose you could sweet talk them when they call you back.
How can we fix a report before problems start if we can't get the report until the problems start?
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1531496-100x100.png\")
I'm also wondering about why Retail Equation is reluctant to put their disputes in writing
methinks they don't like e-mail paper trails..
from their site:
Please include in your message to The Retail Equation your name and a phone number where The Retail Equation can reach you. When a representative from The Retail Equation calls we will ask for your return transaction ID number and the last four digits of your ID number. The Retail Equation prefers to call you so that you can avoid sending this information via email.
Are these free annually like the major credit bureau reports?
Click on a couple of them and you will see that they are.
I fear the day something happens and google accidentally indexes the internal databases of these companies!
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-621269-100x100.png\")
Thank god there's no site for \"Pornography Purchase History Data.\"
There was, but you overloaded the database and crashed their server.
Just too funny.
Acxiom will not allow you to order a free report. I called the number listed on their website and the CSR was unfamiliar with the process. She stated that I could pay $30 and receive a report though.
You can't opt out of LexisNexus unless your a politician, law enforcement, filed an identity theft crime report or have a restraining order on file somewhere. The rest of us have no ability to tell them to stop spying on you. That seems wrong.
well we do have some ability to stop them,
we can:
Work for cash only
Buy everything with cash
refuse to give our full name to anyone, for any reason (including employers, people you may date or marry, your children)
never get a driver's license
never get a passport
live in a van down by the river
See it's all still our choice.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-389492-100x100.png\")
nah, you'd probably have to give your full name to register the van, whether you pay cash or not
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-184590-100x100.png\")
Actually we have a greater source for fighting back and its right in front of you, the web. The web is constantly be scanned for public information about you.
I use all social networking sites to disseminate dis-information about myself at every chance that I get. Never tell the truth when using unnecessary sites. As far as the web is concerned I am 4'11\" and 21 years old.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-446330-100x100.png\")
I had a journalism professor, who specialized in reporting on online technology, who said he did the same thing whenever he was forced to register an account with a Web site. He brought up the use of www.bugmenot.com. I haven't used it in awhile, so I'm not sure if it's still active or as reliable as it used to be.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-461138-100x100.png\")
Prescription purchase history? Isn't that private medical information, not to be shared?
What if someone has a prescription that means they have a very private and personal illness? What if they are purchasing the prescriptions for a sick family member and not themselves?
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-6536-100x100.png\")
All laws to protect our privacy are apparently make-believe.
I get an Rx for Xanax to take before flying (like 2 pills each trip, not a whole bottle full) and I'd hate to think that employers doing a background check could see a list that says I buy Xanax, and think I'm mentally unstable and possibly risky to hire, when I am perfectly normal but just have a fear of flying.
Prescriptions are nobody's business but the doctor, the patient and the pharmacist.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1378135-100x100.png\")
I would like to believe that that kind of thing, even if it were for an anxiety disorder, would be a protected status. This is just like of creepy.
Prescriptions can be for other purposes. For example, Valtrex, which is advertised for genital herpes, is also prescribed for Shingles. So now it looks like you have and STD.
The first one shown, TheWorkNumber is an ADP product/service. They don't retain records older than 4 years. I ran into MANY AND NUMEROUS problems using them because they don't connect with a live person and when you DO connect with a live person after their insane phone routing system, you get such a runaround that it's oftentimes easier to get information from old paystubs to verify employment older than 4 years.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1532920-100x100.png\")
Ingenix and Milliman create medical report profiles by mining databases of prescription drug histories kept by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which help insurers process drug claims. Ingenix, for instance, has servers in the PBM data centers, updating the drug files as frequently as once a day. (Ingenix is a division of UnitedHealth Group, which also owns UnitedHealthcare, the nation’s second-largest insurer.)
When an insurer makes an online query about an applicant, Ingenix or Milliman’s servers scour the data and within minutes or less return reports to a central server at the company. The server aggregates the information going back as far as five years, including the drugs and dosages prescribed, dates filled and refilled, the therapeutic class and the name and address of the prescribing doctor. Then comes the analysis...
Ingenix’s MedPoint tool provides insurers a “pharmacy risk score,” or a number that represents an “expected risk” for a group of people, such as 30- to 35-year-old women who have taken prescription drugs. Higher scores imply higher medical costs. Similarly, Milliman’s IntelliScript codes drugs red, yellow or green, according to the insurer’s instructions, with red signaling the greatest risk. Red codes could include the so-called AIDS cocktail drugs and cancer medications.
The companies receive data only on individuals who are in clients in PBMs’ databases, generally excluding, say, people who pay for drugs in cash. In 2008, IntelliScript received about 1 million queries from health insurers.
So, when you say \"pay cash\", can you stay out of those databases by paying \"out of pocket\"? In other words, paying full price and not using anything insurance-related to get the prescription or pay for the meds.
Just wondering if it has to be cash or if you can self-pay with a credit/debit card.
Thanks for your explanation above BTW.
Paying cash may help avoid leaving a footprint, however, if you are filling a prescription at a pharmacy, you'll like have provided either (i) your real name or (ii) your health insurance account number. With either piece of information, personal information will likely end up in one of these databases.
According to Businessweek, an untold number of people have been rejected for medical coverage for a reason they never could have guessed: Insurance companies are using huge, commercially available prescription databases to screen out applicants based on their drug purchases. http://www.annualmedicalreport.com/08/17/prescription-analytics-corporate-databases-track-whats-in-your-medicine-cabinet/
In addition, the American Medical Association keeps a database of every doctor/patient encounter and prescription action. Unfortunately, patients cannot opt their medical information out of this database; requests for opt-out of the AMA Physician Masterfile Database can only be made by licensed doctors. Because the AMA sells access to the Physician Masterfile Database, your medical information can also be \"obtained\" by various corporations and medical entities. In 2002, sales of licenses to the American Medical Association’s (AMA) Physician Masterfile generated $20 million in revenue for the organization. By 2007, sales of the AMA Physician Masterfile had reached $40 million per year. http://www.annualmedicalreport.com/08/12/american-medical-assoc-senior-vp-tells-how-your-medical-data-is-identified/
Obviously this is a result of over regulation and the free market will clear this all up in a jiffy.
Thankfully we have republicans in congress to block health reform!
Why won't anyone ever think of the corporations!?!?
/sarcasm
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-232165-100x100.png\")
I love it.
Why can't the masses understand that just because \"i don't online bank\" that it doesn't mean your information is safe.
If everybody understood that all our information is out there and one security breach could cause supreme problems for anybody, then maybe the masses will wake up and actually want things to change.
Until that time I'm just gonna punch people in the face that tell me their safer than me because they don't bank online.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-658373-100x100.png\")
I'm tempted to do the Work Number employment thing but do I really want to be mailing out my SS number with my drivers license and a bill from my home address. Eek, no.
Who is The Medical Information Bureau, Inc. (MIB)?
Excerpt from, “Nobody Knows the MIB” in Database Nation: The Death of Privacy (2000)
http://www.annualmedicalreport.com/08/15/nobody-knows-the-medical-information-bureau-mib/
\"The Medical Information Bureau, Inc. (MIB) was organized in 1902 as a not-for-profit trade organization; today, approximately 750 insurance corporations belong to the membership, including health, life, disability, and long-term care insurance companies. The medical report files in MIB's vast database don’t contain medical records, test results, or X-rays. Instead, each person’s medical report file contains one or more codes that stand for a particular medical condition that has been reported for that person. (This is similar to your credit report, which contains coded information about your use of credit, but not your actual credit card transactions and statements.)
These MIB \"medical report\" files contain codes that signify health conditions, such as diabetes, heart problems, and drug use. Some codes are very detailed. For example, in his Ph.D thesis research for Harvard Business School, Jeff Smith found that MIB had five different codes for AIDS. However, not all of the codes at the Medical Information Bureau are medical. For example, MIB has five codes that indicate a dangerous lifestyle, including, “adverse driving records, hazardous sports, aviation activity, and homosexual lifestyle.” These codes map to similar questions on most life insurance forms.
What the Medical Information Bureau keeps in its computers is information about people. Specifically, every time you report a significant medical condition on an insurance application—anything from heart problems to skin cancer—the insurance company can report that condition to the MIB. The next time you apply for insurance, your “new” insurance company will pull your MIB file and find out what you previously reported.
In theory, MIB is supposed to prevent people who have significant medical conditions (and have been repeatedly rejected when they apply for insurance) from suddenly omitting their conditions from their applications and then getting health and life insurance with low-cost premiums that are reserved for healthy people. MIB helps “keep the cost of insurance down for insurance companies and for consumers by preventing losses that would occur due to fraud or omissions,” says Neil Day, MIB’s president.
In practice, MIB provides the technological infrastructure and private health information that enables insurance companies to discriminate based on \"pre-existing conditions\" and cancel coverage by \"rescission\" for omission or fraud.\"
http://www.annualmedicalreport.com/01/12/insurance-executives-cannot-do-business-without-the-mib-inc/
From the MIB Marketing Materials, the \"MIB Follow-Up Service\" powers health insurance rescission: \"\"FOLLOW UP SERVICE- Casting a larger net: As the industry’s only source for post-policy issue information, the MIB Follow-up Service provides a crucial “second chance” to underwrite based on additional, discovered information during the contestable period. For two years following the original MIB inquiry, this Service alerts members to a policyholder’s medical conditions that were undisclosed at the time of the original application.\"\"
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-173330-100x100.png\")
\"It's the M.I.B.s....Unh, here come the M.I.B.s\"
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1550-100x100.png\")
I did the choicepoint thing a while back, just out of curiosity. There were like 20 double sided pages that basically said, \"No file\" or \"no information\" etc.. The only real information on there was one \"no fault\" accident insurance claim about 5 years ago.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-784011-100x100.png\")
One can only imagine what this place will be like by the end of the century.
As someone who is currently dealing with identity theft, places like this are a what make it so difficult to get yourself back on track. I can't tell you how many times I've heard \"unfortunately, it is harder to fix identity theft than commit the crime.\"
Fixing this problem literally takes several full days, and that is unacceptable. Ra, ra, capitalism and all that, but at least if this was Obama's Socialist Utopia, all this information could conceivably be in one place. This is one place where choice totally screws the consumer.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-329647-100x100.png\")
Why would a business want to know what prescription drugs i purchased? that seems kind of scary.
I have a vague recollection that those who obtain a Tenant History Report are somehow \"flagged\". Anyone know anything about this?
Also, applying to these companies in general, what if you request a report but they have no record of you? I think I've been pretty good at keeping my online profile low and hate to think that I'd be putting a \"here I am\" sign on me! :)
This was on Bargaineering a month or so ago and I thought was pretty good about how to get your insurance \"credit report\" for free:
http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/request-your-clue-report.html
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-3130-100x100.png\")
That post was about your insurance claims, not your credit report. For your credit report, Annualcreditreport.com is the place to go.
Pretty fricking scary that this crap exists. Really scary that MIB has been in service since 1902, and now we hear about them.
I have also been told that Linkedin has lots of information in it also about people, supposedly only business contacts though. Who knows.
Many of the agencies you've listed -- including the \"big 3\" credit reporting agencies -- frequently sell their name-and-address lists to advertisers, and I don't know if you even have the right to forbid it. Some (Acxiom, for one) make more money doing that than from selling your history. So don't give them details like your phone number unnecessarily.
A little scared here...