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Daily Archives: September 14, 2017

Equifax is one of many companies that collect information about you

Via NBR/CNBC: “There are literally hundreds of smaller consumer-reporting companies [33-page PDF] operating in the U.S. and the smaller ones are collecting information you might not expect. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau maintains a self-reported list of the companies. Consider Milliman IntelliScript, for example. The company collects information on the prescription drugs you buy. If you’ve ever authorized the release of your medical records to an insurance company, they might have shared them with Milliman. Or look at Retail Equation, a company that monitors consumers’ return and exchange behavior at retail companies. Company critics say the information collected can prevent legitimate returns from being accepted. Still, fraudulent returns are a big concern for retail companies, costing them billions of dollars a year, company reports say. The companies did not respond to requests for comment. Consumer-reporting companies are governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, according to the CFPB. That means consumers can request copies of their reports, though some will charge you for it.” [h/t Pete Weiss]

Statistics for More Than 40 Demographic and Economic Topics Provide Detailed Profiles of Communities Nationwide

“The U.S. Census Bureau today released its most detailed look at America’s people, places and economy with new statistics on income, poverty, health insurance and more than 40 other topics from the American Community Survey. Many states saw an increase in income and a decrease in poverty rates between 2015 and 2016. During that same… Continue Reading

Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2016

“The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that real median household income increased by 3.2 percent between 2015 and 2016, while the official poverty rate decreased 0.8 percentage points. At the same time, the percentage of people without health insurance coverage decreased. Median household income in the United States in 2016 was $59,039, an increase in… Continue Reading

GPO Launches New Preservation Page on FDLP.gov

“While GPO has a long-standing commitment to preserving U.S. Government information, the work of GPO’s preservation program has not had a single home on the web until now. GPO is pleased to announce our new preservation page, where you can find: Information about preservation. Preservation plans and public policy statements. Guidance documents and best practices… Continue Reading

Paper – Who Owns the Wealth in Tax Havens?

Who owns the Wealth in Tax Havens? Macro Evidence and Implications for Global Inequality. Annette Alstadsæter, Niels Johannesen, Gabriel Zucman. NBER Working Paper 23805 “Drawing on newly published macroeconomic statistics, this paper estimates the amount of household wealth owned by each country in offshore tax havens. The equivalent of 10% of world GDP is held… Continue Reading

Class action suit against Google alleges gender based pay discrimination

Washington Post – “Google faces a new lawsuit accusing it of gender-based pay discrimination. A lawyer representing three female former Google employees is seeking class action status for the claim. The suit, filed Thursday in San Francisco Superior Court, follows a federal labor investigation that made a preliminary finding of systemic pay discrimination among the… Continue Reading

Under EU General Data Protection Regulation large fines result from failure to protect consumer data

eSecurity Planet: “The massive Equifax breach that recently affected 143 million consumers would have led to hugely significant fines if the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which takes effect in May 2018, had already been in place. Under the new rules, organizations that fail to protect sensitive data can be fined up to… Continue Reading

FTC alerts consumers about post Equifax scams

Ring, ring. “This is Equifax calling to verify your account information.” Stop. Don’t tell them anything. They’re not from Equifax. It’s a scam. Equifax will not call you out of the blue. That’s just one scam you might see after Equifax’s recent data breach. Other calls might try to trick you into giving your personal… Continue Reading