Reproduction of this document is permitted with appropriate credit given to the author.
Please....send your comments and corrections to:
D. Monroe
Standard disclaimer applies: this information is not necessarily agreed to, or supported by my employer.
!!I DO NOT OFFER ANY OF THE SERVICES LISTED OR DESCRIBED HEREIN!!
About This File
Interest in the topics discussed in this file was generated by reading a book
titled "Privacy for Sale" by Jeffrey Rothfeder [Simon & Schuster 1992
ISBN 0-671-73492-X]
regarding the demise of privacy in the age of the computer. The
ease with which personal finance, medical histories, credit, etc.
information is obtained, by practically anyone with the time and
or money to find out, is truly alarming. The lack of protection by
the laws of this country is perhaps even more alarming.
The book mentions many organizations but no addresses or phone
numbers are given. Mr. Rothfeder also gives us
some helpful, but limited, advice which I have tried to expand upon.
I have put together some additional information which I
thought might assist those interested in inquiring about the
quality and quantity of information (about themselves) which would be
available to others.
!! I DO NOT OFFER ANY OF THE SERVICES LISTED !!
Lots of Consumer Credit info can be obtained from Steve Adams' consumer-credit-faq lists (parts 1-n) at rtfm.mit.edu
TRW/Experian
PO Box 8030
Layton, Utah 84041-8030
Cost: $8.00 (see exception list below)
Procedure: In writing only
Phone:(800) 682-7654
7/21/94 A. Evans reports via e-mail:TRW will supply credit report from
an automated system by calling 800 392-1122
1/7/97 Jeff Morgan reports:
TRW was sold to an investment group backed by Bain Capital
in September 1996, and is now called Experian Information Solutions.
They retain the right to use the TRW name for two years from date of sale.
4/1/97 Jeff Morgan reports:
Effective 1 March 1997, TRW (Experian) no longer offers one free
credit report as a matter of course. See the following link for their
press release:
http://www.experian.com/corporate/press_releases/012097.html
The fee is $8 for most states, exceptions can be found at:
http://www.experian.com/product/consumer/exception.html
Equifax
PO Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374-0241. FAX request to: (404) 612-2668
Cost:$8.00 (Maryland +$5.00, ME & MT +$3.00)
Procedure: Write or fax
Phone:(800) 685-1111
Trans-Union
P.O. Box 390
Springfield, PA 19064-0390
Main Phone: 404-396-0961
Cost: $8.00 individual, $16.00 husband & wife
Procedure: Write or call 610-933-1200 (call *only* if denied credit recently)
Note: All bureaus will provide free report if you have just
been denied credit. Only the credit bureau whose information was
responsible for the denial of credit is required to do so. The other
two are not *required* to do this, although they *may* do so as a
courtesy. (clarification by Jeff Morgan 1/7/97)
Credit reports should include the names of organizations who
have accessed your records. They may not necessarily be the
same org. to whom you applied for credit.
All claim to require the following information to respond to your
request--
1. Full name including middle initial
2. Spouse name, (if you have one.)
3. Current address.
4. Date of Birth.
5. Social Security Number
6. Verification of your address (copy of Driv. license or
a bill with the address clearly indicated).
From: Patrick Townson (10/12/93)
...the *top half* of your credit bureau file -- the part
where your name, address, former address, SSN and date of birth, current
and previous employers, and sometimes phone numbers are
revealed --
is NOT protected under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Just the bottom half
of the report where your 'trades' appear is protected. If you don't like it,
take it up with the Congress of the United States.
>From Brenda J. Roder (4/16/93):
When I received my credit reports from trw and equifax, they had separate
addresses to write to be excluded from the pre-screening programs.
[This should help eliminate pre-approved cards you never requested,as well
as reduce the amount of mail from direct marketers who target specific
audiences]
Equifax Options P.O. Box 740123 Atlanta, GA 30374-0123 TRW Credit Marketing Consumer Opt-Out Service PO Box 919 Allen, TX 75002 (800) 353-0809 Trans Union 555 W. Adams St. 8th Floor Chicago, IL 60661
>From Jerry N. Alexandratos (11/13/94):
Maryland law now requires the credit reporting agencies to provide, upon
request, one free credit report per year. Recent credit denial is not
necessary. You still must give them *lots* of information about yourself
to get the report- enough to start a file on you if they have not already
done so. (Addresses for the past 5 years, for example.)
>From anon source (accuracy unknown 3/21/95):
You may also want to [ask the credit bureau(s) to] put a "security alert"
on your information for added protection. What this does is if a loan
application comes in to the credit bureau, you must be contacted by phone
for verification before any loan is issued.
-----------
New info from CPSR (EPIC alert 5/19/94):
The long awaited amendments to the Fair Credit Reporting Act were
approved by the Senate 87-10 on May 4. The bill (S. 783), may lead to
the first update to the FCRA since its passage in 1970. The
legislation was sponsored by Sens. Richard Bryan (D-NV), Don Riegle
(D-MI) Kit Bond (R-MO) and Harris Wofford (D-PA).
The bill preempts state statutes for six years in several areas including obsolete information, prescreening of consumer reports, duties of persons who take adverse actions based on consumer reports and intra-company transfer of credit information. After 6 years, the states may pass laws that explicitly state that they supplement the Federal act.
The bill allows consumers to opt-out of having their information distributed for use in offering unsolicited credit cards ("prescreening") and some direct marketing uses. Credit agencies are prohibited from providing adverse information over 10 years old. Secondary users of credit services cannot obtain credit reports for resale without informing the agency of the final users of the information and the permitted uses of the information.
An attempt by Senator Paul Simon(D-IL)to amend the bill to include language creating a privacy commission gathered 21 votes. Many Senators were reluctant because of fears that other, "less friendly," amendments would then be approved, weakening the FCRA amendments.
Consumer advocates are pressing the House of Representative to fix the
deficiencies in the Senate bill. The House bill is currently in
committee.
-----------
There are many local credit bureaus. Bankcard holders of America, a non-profit consumer education group, publishes a ``credit-check kit'' that includes the name, address and phone numbers of legitimate credit bureaus across the country, as well as a pamphlet that explains in details your rights under the FCRA. The kit costs two dollars and is available from:
Bankcard Holders of America 560 Herndon Parkway Suite 120 Herndon, VA 22070If you disagree with anything on your report, contact the credit bureau. The FCRA requires the bureau to reinvestigate the facts in the dispute; if you do not agree with their conclusion, you have the right to include a statement in the report with your version of the story.
See the Consumer Credit FAQ lists too!
Social Security Number FAQ:
>From Chris Hibbert (hibbert@netcom.com)
[Hibbert's] SSN FAQ is available from two places: rtfm.mit.edu (by FTP or EMail), or cpsr.org (by FTP or http). The html version is at cpsr.org, and includes links to SSN-related info which has been omitted from the text version. The text version is at MIT.
The URLs are:
http://cpsr.org/cpsr/privacy/ssn/ssn.faq.html
ftp://cpsr.org/ftp/cpsr/privacy/ssn
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/news/answers/privacy/ssn-faq
WWW (HTTP)
There is a more comprehensive privacy page at CPSR (which points at
both the SSN and junk mail FAQs). It's at:
http://www.cpsr.org/dox/program/privacy/privacy.html
EMail You can get the latest version of the SSN FAQ (text version) by sending mail to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with send usenet-by-hierarchy/news/answers/privacy/ssn-faq as the sole contents of the body. Send a message containing "help" to get general information about the mail server. For the Junk Mail FAQ: send usenet-by-hierarchy/news/answers/privacy/junkmail-faq
FTP connect to ftp.cpsr.org or rtfm.mit.edu, give "anonymous" as your user name, and your email address as the password. The directories are:
cpsr.org /ftp/cpsr/privacy/ssn rtfm.mit.edu /pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/news/answers/privacy/ssn-faqrtfm.mit.edu is a standard archive which has many other FAQs.
cpsr.org has other resources on privacy,
SSNs, and related subjects.
Other directories contain information on pending legislation, the 1st
amendment, computer security, cryptography, FOIA, NII, and CPSR.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Info about the structure of SSN's and how they are assigned, use anon ftp to CPSR Site.
Obtain a statement of your earnings from the Social Security
Administration every two years. This will tell you if someone else is earning
wages under your social security number, which can lead to many difficulties at
retirement. If you suspect an error, you have three years, three months and 15
days after the mistake is made to challenge it.
To get your statement, you need to fill out a Request For Earnings and
Benefit Estimate Statement card, which can be ordered by telephone from the
Social Security Administration's toll free number, (800) 772-1213. Ask
for "Personal Earnings and Benefit Statement", SSA-7004 request
form.
You can download the Social Security Earnings and Benefits Request
form from the following URL:
http://www.ssa.gov/online/ssa-7004.html
I. The UnDirectory service -- mechanized, low-cost, and quick
You need: Touch-tone phone and a line that allows 900- calls
Action: Dial 1-900-933-3330 and enter any 10-digit US number
Pay: $1 per minute (on next phone bill)
Speed: Instant lookup. If you're fast: 3 lookups a minute
Coverage: Listed numbers in contiguous US + Alaska, Hawaii, AT&T 800
Available: 24 hours, year round
Accuracy: Like CD-ROM data -- better for some areas than others
Provider: Clarity Inc, PO Box 8357, Red Bank, NJ 07701
Contact: 1-908-530-5100 -- leave a message
No presubscription needed. No refund for unsuccessful lookups.
II. Telename (I think) -- uses live operators
You need: Phone and a line that allows 900- calls
Action: Dial 1-900-884-1212, give operator number, await lookup
Pay: $1.49 first minute, $0.75 per additional minute
Available: Business hours
Provider: Telecompute Corporation, Washington, DC
III. Chicago-area lookups only (312 708) -- mechanized, low-cost
You need: Touch-tone phone
Action: Dial 796-9600 from Chicago phones, or 1-312-796-9600
Enter Chicago-area phone number
Pay: $0.35 for two lookups from Chicago phones;
Long-distance charge, only, for outside-Chicago callers
Coverage: Listed phone numbers within listed area codes
Available: 24 hours (?)
Accuracy: High -- uses Ameritech's database
Provider: Ameritech
IV. Published directories
Public-library reference desks often keep reverse directories,
but only for local cities. The book for one city costs $150-200.
V. CD-ROM phone directories
Widely available. Many provide only name-to-number lookups,
not the reverse.
See addresses above for credit reporters(TRW, Equifax, Trans Union), write to your credit card providers, and write to:
Mail Preference Service Direct Marketing Assoc. PO Box 9008 Farmingdale NY 11735-9008 and Telephone Preference Service Direct Marketing Assoc. PO Box 9014 Farmingdale NY 11735-9014The Direct Mark. Assoc. can also be reached by phone:Request to be listed in the Mail and Telephone "suppression" file.
Don't ask your mail carrier to stop delivering "junk" mail. They have a legal obligation to deliver anything for which postage has been paid.
Do not send back the Business Reply envelope, stuffed full of the junk, back to the sender. Likewise do not mark "Return to Sender" thinking that these tactics will send the message that you don't want the mail. Most reply mail goes to third party sweatshops for data entry. Therefore, your effort to notify them in this manner will be for naught.
Polk is a Direct Mail Advertising (read "junkmail") list developer, and a company to whom you can write to get your name off the list: They sell their lists to direct marketers and via CD-ROM (1-800-ASK-POLK)
R.L. Polk & Co. List Compilation and Development 6400 Monroe Blvd Taylor, Mich. 48180-1814Polks directories have four parts. The first has business listings. The second has the streets listed alphabetically and all the house numbers, occupant's name and phone number. A third part lists everyone living at that address along with their occupation and place of employment. The fourth a numeric phone number listing cross referenced to a name. Every year, Polk sends people out into the neighborhoods knocking on doors and asking for any updates to their listings. If nobody is home, they leave a form to be filled out and sent back in.
Another list compiler--
Haines & Company 8050 Freedom Ave. NW PO Box 2117 North Canton, OH 44720call 1-800-321-4911 - Ask to have your name removed.
Finally, see link to Chris Hibbert's Junk Mail FAQ at: CPSR (Junk Mail FAQ retreival info also in PERSONAL/SSN section) and Fred Elbel's anti-Junk mail resource: http://www.csn.net/~felbel/jnkmail.html
Ask your physician if she/he subscribes to this network and avoid them if they do.
Obviously, inaccurate data can be extremely harmful. Call MIB to get a form to request that they disclose your medical records to you (or your physician).
Medical Information Bureau PO Box 105 Essex Station Boston MA 02112 617 426-3660 follow instructions on voice mail. Cost: $8.00 Procedure: request disclosure form D-2 Canada: MIB, 330 University Ave. Toronto, Ont. M5G 1R7 (416 597-0590)
Read the article titled "Open Secrets: Medical Data Gathered by Firms Can Prove Less Than Confidential", Ellen Schulz, Wall Street Journal 5/18/94.
(back to Index)
CRIMINAL
Write to the FBI to inquire about a search of the automated indices to the
central records system files maintained at FBI headquarters.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
F.O.I.P.A Section (Freedom of Inf./Privacy Act)
J.Edgar Hoover Bldg No charge
9th and E Streets NW
Washington, DC 20535
Phone 202 324-5520
Procedure: Provide Full Name, Date of Birth, Place of Birth,
Address Request must be signed *and* notarized!
or it will be returned!!!
It takes a *long* time to satisfy these requests. Typically, several months go
by between the time you make a request and the time you receive any
notification of documents found (or not found). If documents are found, you
are then notified of the backlog and review period and you must wait until
an analyst makes a decision to send any info to you. Apparently there are
many exemptions under which the FBI can deny disclosure of records. This wait
could be a year or more I'm told. Periodic notifications are not sent. You can
call or write to inquire about the status of a request. The request is given a
number and it is supplied to you on a form letter early in the process which
acknowledges receipt of your request.
>From Chris Hibbert:
It's probably worth pointing out that there are statutory requirements
for timely responses. You occasionally have to file appeals to get a
response, but there are organizations that specialize in houding
federal agencies to respond on time, and take them to court when they
don't. (The biggest is called the Fund for Open Information and
Accountability.)
The Attorney General has specifically excluded NCIC records from the provisions of the Privacy Act. However, NCIC computerized criminal files are now maintained within the Identification Division records. If you desire a search of the Identification Div. records write to:
FBI Identification Div. Room 10104 Washington, DC 20537-9700Proof of identity required--name, date of birth, and a set of rolled inked fingerprint impressions placed upon fingerprint cards or forms commonly utilized for applicant or law enforcement agencies. Processing fee $17.00, in form of certified check or money order payable to Treasury of the United States. Ask for copy of Rules and reg's for Order 556-73 which will explain procedure to follow for changing correcting, updating records.
There is a Freedom Of Information Act kit available via ftp to:
hyperreal.com
- or, search ARCHIE for other FOIA info (lots out there).
The Kit is very complete and informative!
Additonal FOIA info from
CPSR
MISCELLANEOUS
Additional addresses and info: (Thanks to Chris Hibbert)
CALL: ChexSystems
Consumer Relations 1-800-428-9623
WRITE: ChexSystems
Attn: Consumer Relations
12005 Ford Road - Suite 600
Dallas, TX 75234
FAX: 214-241-4772
>From Judi Clark (11/16/94)- The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse Univ. of San Diego School of Law The Center for Public Interest Law 5998 Alcala Park San Diego, CA 92110 (619) 260-4160 (619) 298-5681 (fax) e-mail prc@acusd.edu Hotline: +1 800-773-7748 (Calif. only) +1 619-298-3396 URL: http://www.privacyrights.org/
They have a number of valuable publications online.
Privacy Journal P.O Box 28577 Providence, Rhode Island 02908 (401)274-7861 North America: $98/year Overseas: $125/year Paid in advance: $35/year
Privacy Newsletter PO Box 8206 Philadelphia PA 19101-8206 Phone: 215-533-7373 E-mail: privacy@interramp.com (see Philadelphia Inquirer article Jan. 14, 1996) USA: $99/year (12 issues) Foreign: $149/year (12 issues)
The CODEX : "Our purpose is to educate the layperson about the technology, techniques and equipment used for professional intelligence gathering." The Codex is published monthly by: Codex Publishing, 2472 Broadway, Suite 328, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 917-277-1983 E-Mail: spyking@mne.net http://www.thecodex.com/ The annual subscription rate is $ 95.00 for US residents and $135.00 foreign subscriptions. All mail sent 1st class. To subscribe send a check or money order payable to Codex Publishing. Include your name & full mailing address. CODEX Privacy Web Resource: http://www.thecodex.com/ information on privacy sites, resources, articles, utilities and products.
Who (Secretly) Reads YOUR E-Mail?
by
Andre Bacard, Author of
"Computer Privacy Handbook"
ISBN # 1-56609-171-3
Do you like people to (secretly) monitor, store, and redistribute
your business and personal e-mail? How about your electronic posts?
Probably not.
[Andre Bacard] has written several privacy FAQs (Three to five page articles
in question & answer format). You can download these for free. To get
info, send this e-mail:
To: abacard@well.com
Subject: Help
Message: [ignored]
Web Site:
http://www.well.com/user/abacard/
GET THE FACTS ON ANYONE : How you Can use Public Sources to Check the
Background of Any Person or Organization.
By Dennis King, Award-Winning Investigative Reporter
published by Prentice Hall (part of Simon & Schuster) in 1992.
ISBN 0-671-86470-X
One part I really HATED was his discussion of what info is available with an SSN and how to try to figure out if someone has a fake identity using it. I know it IS available, but that does not make it right.
I got the book in my college library, so try borrowing it first if you can't or don't want to buy it. The retail price is listed as $15 on the book cover.
I wish to announce my recent aquisition of some databases which are
primarily used by skip-tracing, investigative and government agencies
to locate people, any assets they may have, and other pertinent and
personal details of their lives.
These databases are being made available to anyone who wishes to have
access to them. The charges are simply being passed along, 'at cost'
based on what I am paying.
SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER TRACING:
==============================
You provide an SSN. I will advise you of all the names which have
been used with this SSN, and the addresses which go with each. Or
it can be the other way around: you supply an exact name and address
(it can sometimes be a former address), and I will supply you with
the SSN used by that person. $60
PEOPLE FINDER:
=============
You provide a name. Any name okay, but very common names will
render a useless list. Middle initials and last known address is
requested if possible. You'll receive a listing of every person who
has that name, along with other data:
New address if they moved;
Telephone number provided the number is published;
Residence type;
Length of residence;
Gender;
Date of birth;
Up to four other household members and their dates of birth.
For additional information, People Finder also can provide a neighbor
listing which includes up to ten neighbors, their addresses, phone
numbers and residence types.
The People Finder database has 120 million names, 80 million house-
holds and 61 million telephone numbers.
It can be searched by telephone number only: You provide the phone
number, I will respond with the person's profile and neighbor listing.
Or it can be searched by address only, with the same results.
Cost: $80-$120, depending on how extensive the search is.
People Finder comes with a guarantee: if I cannot produce at least
one person with the name you request plus an address for that
person, then there is no charge.
CONSUMER CREDIT REPORTS:
=======================
Consumer Credit reports availale from one bureau, $60
Consumer Credit reports available from three bureaus, $100
I need two things:
1. The name and address of the person, plus SSN if possible.
2. A *signed* statement that your request is for bonafide,
legal reasons, i.e. you are considering an extension of
credit to the person, or possibly employing them, etc. I
cannot proceed without this signed statement.
OTHER DATABASE FEATURES:
=======================
Has someone ever filed bankruptcy?
Any one district $40
Checking all districts avail. $160
Commercial Credit reports available on any business in file, $95
About fourteen million businesses and corporations included.
Criminal History records available at $75-100 per jurisdiction you
request searched. I need the exact name, SSN and DOB of the person.
Death Records can be provided in various formats:
By SSN only - is the holder of that SSN deceased or not? $30
By name - a more detailed account of their demise $40
Drivers Records can be pulled but the exact name and DOB
is essential; otherwise if you have the full driver's license
number, the search can be reversed, providing a name and DOB
plus address. (Then use People Finder address trace on them.) $65
Education and degree verification is possible, and frequently
used to expose those people who are not what they claim to be. $35
Real Property Asset Locator database $75
I can do this, but need to know *which* areas to search.
Who is the real owner of the corporation with which you are
having a dispute? The name(s) and address(es) of the officers
of corporations are available in many places. Sometimes you
get their home address and phone number in the process.
If you know what state the corporation is based in $45
If you wish to have a search of 30 states done $165
Would you like to know if soeone is getting workers comp money?
If you know what state they are likely to get it
from, I can verify it (only in selected areas) $63
Uniform Commercial Code filings by state $52
VIN (vehicle identification numbers) checked by state $50
Finally--
CPSR (Computer Professional for Social Responsibility,
Washington, DC) has *lots* of great info on their ftp site- check it out!
Electronic Frontier Foundation - " a civil liberties organization working
to protect your rights on-line" has an ftp server which also has *lots* of
info about communications technology and privacy issues. Check out
ftp.eff.org
EFF also has a Web Server at http://www.eff.org/
Check out the book from your local library or buy (~$22.00), read it, then contact your congressperson! tell them you are appalled at the lack of data privacy in America. Encourage them to support legislation to protect us from information abusers!
To Search Phone and Fax Numbers of Congress: Here or a listing of Rep. info here
Also, House E-mail addresses
This resource kit can be obtained via anon ftp to: ftp.rahul.net in the directory /pub/jag/privacy/