Data is a copyable asset. Most other assets are not.
Any copyable asset is worth zero as long as any copy is in the hands of someone likely to make more copies.
Any copyable asset is worth zero as long as any copy is in the hands of someone likely to make more copies.
Experian has created a massive liability for all the individuals in the leaked data pool. The amount of damage this leak does to innocent people is staggering.
It's an interesting conundrum that "big business" claims that personal data being copied doesn't necessarily have value, but entertaining data does.
You consented to have your data reported to the credit reporting agencies when you applied for credit. You may not have been aware of it, but you did.
It is not possible to function fully in most western societies without access to banking services and payment cards. "Consent" to share financial data with credit rating services is consent extracted under duress. Most people have no other choice but to apply for bank accounts and credit accounts unless they are able to live off-grid.
If a robber points a gun at someone and tells them to hand over their wallet, the fact that they had a choice between cooperating and being shot does not mean that cooperation is a consensual act. The existence of an even worse alternative to an unwanted compelled act does not make the compelled act consensual.
It also should not be overlooked that the US financial credit reporting system functions as a Chinese-style Sesame Credit social credit reporting system in practice. Credit reporting agencies harvest non-financial data to evaluate individual behaviors and credit scores are widely used to control access to employment and housing. This amounts to a human rights violation to which no one can meaningfully consent regardless of its formal legality.
It's not coercion or duress simply because the alternative is less desirable. That's hyperbole. And, actually, plenty of people make do without banking services; it's why Payday lenders do so well.
The system might suck and be inequitable--more so than many other systems (no system can be perfectly equitable). And by all means promote legislation to change things. But tossing around words like coercion and duress contributes to the radicalization of politics in a very unhelpful manner. And those words aren't typically the words those stuck with payday lending services would choose, FWIW, even though they're often in objectively much dire financial straits and often couldn't opt-in (literally or at least without worse expense) to the system even if they wanted to.
If you borrow money, you agree to certain terms, one of which is reporting to the credit bureaus. Nobody is forced at gunpoint to borrow money. There is no coercion and no duress.
The system is not fair, I’ll concede to that.
If you want to live a normal life, you have to be able to borrow money in the form of having a credit card.
Every place I’ve ever rented has been without a credit check, so it’s possible to get around that.
The consent to have that data is not copyable though.