I've skipped out on this social networking craze, and now I'm really glad. Now I have to worry about the <i>credit implications</i> of friending that guy from high school that I never particularly liked but hey I don't want to be impolite? (Who, by the way, turns out to be a deadbeat.)<p>People like me have been saying that young people are going to learn that "letting it all hang out" is a mistake, but I sort of figured it would be a mistake for social reasons. I have to admit I never figured that your credit rating could be impacted. The second-order effects of that would rock the entire scene. If Facebook is wise, they will fight this, but this probably looks like a great income opportunity from their point of view.
<i>There are a couple of ways this information may be applied. It can help creditors promote certain products, cutting down on marketing waste. Why sent pre-approval letters to people not interested, right?</i><p>Does this mean I can send one tweet that says "I do not want any credit card offers, unsolicited calls, spam, junk mail, etc." and be done with it? Sign me up!
I hate how opaque the whole idea of credit is.<p>There should be some kind of score for "general financial responsibility" (based on income, spending, investment, bank account info), not "borrows a bunch of money and pays it off reliably."<p>Right now, I have a little bit of debt, and about 10X that amount in savings, and everyone's told me to pay the debt off over time because it looks good. So that's what I'm doing, even though I hate the idea of having to pay interest.<p>My dad has even had trouble securing loans since he paid his mortgage off.
So what about real-life? If I'm hanging out in public with some <i>shady characters</i> can a credit agency ding my report or 'worthiness' based on that activity? It's in public just like my Twitter posts so what would be the difference?<p>This really should be illegal if it's true, and I'm not certain of even that based on this one article. Would be nice to see some sources/corroborating evidence.
How do they know they have the right person?<p>Seems sort of like having a no-fly list based on name and putting someone named Ali on it... Even <i>if</i> it seemed legit to use this sort of info (which I don't), the potential for incorrect info seems significant.<p>The term "identity theft" now also includes having someone make a Facebook account with your name...
Is this really surprising? Of course a bank is going to check up to see if it can get any easy-dirt on you, and if you have a half-dozen comments over the last year that you're barely making your existing card payments then it's really your own fault.<p>If people dislike this behaviour by banks, there are banking regulations that can regulate this behaviour. Alternatively, you could just maintain a good online-image like most people try in the real world.<p>I've been online since I can remember, and I knew from an early age to keep anonymity and privacy online. Why mature adults haven't figured this out is beyond me.