Reviewing Your Personal Credit Report

Many people are under the assumption that personal reports are private and can not be accessed by anyone else. However, this is simply not true. A personal report is comprised of a lot of information. 

Personal credit report is very important. For example, there will be some identifying information in your personal report, such as your name, address, Social Security number, date of birth and employment information. The Fair Credit Reporting Act states that your personal report can be obtained for any purpose. 

Businesses, friends, family, and future employees can take a look at your personal report at anytime. Private Citizens can also access the personal report of any business that they are considering using in the future. This demand has created a hugely profitable market for the top three credit bureaus. They can easily sell your personal credit report to anyone who is prepared to pay. 

The reason why the Credit Reporting Agency has these rules that basically work against customers rights is because people do not know that their personal credit reports can be obtained so easily, and the people who do know do nothing about it. Another problem arises from this lack of privacy – criminals can access your personal credit report and then use your credit information including your name, address, and social security number.

The best way to make sure you are not being taking advantage of is to obtain a copy of your own personal credit report and check it for errors. If your credit score on your personal credit report is low it can take a long time to repair and you have no real alternative but to be patient.  

As technology advances there will continue to be problems with criminals accessing personal reports and using them in illegal ways. Until government legislation changes, our personal credit report and private information will be readily available to anyone who can pay the 9 dollars to access it. According to state law, all credit reporting agencies are required to provide you with two free copies of your personal credit report. 

You can do this by phone or online with Annualcreditreport.com, Equifax.com, and Experian.com. Remember to know your rights as a private citizen, and understand that information you believe to private on your personal credit report may not be. Being educated and informed is the best way to prevent identity fraud and save your credit score.