Credit rating Companies now using what you post on Facebook to lower your FICO score

[dmcowen674]

11-4-2015

Saying "Wasted" On Facebook Can Affect Your Credit Score


The credit rating companies are now using people's social media accounts to assess their ability to repay debt.

"If you look at how many times a person says 'wasted' in their profile, it has some value in predicting whether they're going to repay their debt," Will Lansing, chief executive at credit rating company FICO, told the Financial Times.

According to the Financial Times, both FICO and TransUnion have had to find "alternative ways" to assess people who don't have a traditional credit profile — including people who haven't borrowed enough to give creditors an idea of what kind of risk they pose.

[dmcowen674]

Someone should sue these sham companies into oblivion.

This is clearly a first amendment violation of free speech.

[RolloTheGreat]

Someone should sue these sham companies into oblivion.

This is clearly a first amendment violation of free speech.

This is sketchy but credit reporting is not.

People not paying their bills is a huge problem in this country.

[BoFox]

Someone should sue these sham companies into oblivion.

This is clearly a first amendment violation of free speech.

This is sketchy but credit reporting is not.

People not paying their bills is a huge problem in this country.

Ridiculous interest rates are a huge problem in this country as well.  Sometimes, young college-aged folks just make bad decisions, and then they have to spend decades in poverty just because of the unforgivable debt PLUS up to 30% year-on-year interest rates (whereas if they never spent $10000 "by mistake, or for emergency reasons like medical bills", their lives would have been a far more comfortable middle class quality of life all that time, if the interest rates were no more than 10%). 
Visa/Mastercard etc.. conglomerates just suck it all up anyway just to build their own versions of Ft. Knox hidden under each of their own mansions, just for the sake of owning a Ft. Knox look-alike, no matter how many millions have to suffer.  

About Facebook, would these companies still see private posts that are shared to friends only?  How do they know for sure it's the actual person - do they get access to the person's private data like birthdate, etc?  If Facebook is selling confidential information to these companies, that could very well be an illegal breach of agreement, if we were promised that autonomy.  Also, it could actually be another person using the identity of an ex girlfriend/boyfriend, with the birthdate, etc..  and then try to destroy that person's reputation by saying stuff like "I'm wasted, blah blah.."

Messy times..    at least the ones who freely exercise free speech by saying "I'm wasted" after toking some mojo in one of the states that have legalized weed is no longer as tempted to abuse (and fall victim to) the credit hook-and-reel scheme.  Credit card companies have been letting everybody borrow way too much especially during college years.  It's usually more dangerous in the long-term (and more unforgiving) than borrowing money from family or a close friend.  Cold-blooded interest rates vs warm-blooded stuff...  eh!