If you’ve ever wanted to know just what is out there in the numerous databases, The Consumerist has a detailed list so that you can perform a complete background check on yourself.
Now you can know what Big Brother knows about you and get access to the same dirt everyone from your boss, landlord, insurance agent, to your favorite casino has on you. Here is a comprehenisve list of websites and phone numbers for most of the “specialty” consumer reports, like your employment, rental, and check writing history. Be sure to check them out and correct any errors, before a crisis hits.
Unfortunately, many of the places on the list are also not free.
When looking at the list that The Consumerist has compiled, it’s a little scary and nerve-wrecking to know that ChoicePoint is on that list. They were caught selling information to criminal organizations in the past, which doesn’t leave me thinking my data is very secure.
LexisNexus won’t let you opt-out unless you are lucky enough to be a politician, work in law enforcement, have filed an identity theft crime report or have a restraining order on file somewhere. Those of us that are not luck cannot stop them from spying on us.
Having a database of prescription drug purchase history also seems like some sort of privacy violation as well. Ingenix is part of UnitedHealth Group. UnitedHealth Group owns UnitedHealthcare, the second-largest insurer in the nation. The Medical Information Bureau (MIB) is also very scary.
It is also likely that many of these companies buy and sell their information amongst one another. There is also far more detail about you in these databases than you could ever dream of and there’s no way to opt out and very difficult to protect your own information.


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