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Comment by basseq | Hacker News Reader

I very much doubt it. The "Salary data is for sale" title is misleading; There's no way for me to go pay Equifax for access to u/shmatt's data. They might have some aggregate datasets for sale, removing PII.

The same goes for credit data; you (largely) can't run a credit check on me without my permission.

This is an HR service to ease the burden of legitimate requests for employment or salary data that you, as an employee, request.

More logically, employers wouldn't want other companies to be able to access their payroll information for competitive reasons.

I can't explain your previous experience; perhaps you were at a company with firm pay bands, and they knew you were already at the top of your current one?

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> you (largely) can't run a credit check on me without my permission

that is LOL incorrect. I know a car sales department lead, a licensed real estate broker who is also a rental apartment owner, and multiple small business owners that I suspect can all snoop on my US credit record pretty much at will. The second part of that is that each and every one of those people do lie on signed documents routinely, which apparently is normal.

Notwithstanding bad actors, the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires[1], among other things:

1. Only business entities with a specific, legitimate purpose can request / access a credit report.

2. Consent must be provided depending on use case.

"Soft pulls" (e.g., pre-screened CC offers) can be done without your consent. (You can opt out of these.)

A dealership finance office or lease broker would absolutely run your credit, and typically there are explicit forms you sign authorizing such a check as part of that business transaction authorized by you. "At will" checks outside of such transactions would appear to be in violation of FCRA.

Conversely, credit agencies are required to provide you a list of all inquiries upon demand, so you can see if those parties you mention actually are running your credit without your permission.

[1] https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/pdf-0096-fair-credit-r...

> Notwithstanding bad actors

Isn't this a huge point developing here now? that in consumer finance, those who run the show routinely are shown cheating overall. What is the gain/pain ratio on cheating in consumer finance? The list of legal requirements and safeguards seem to get longer at the same time as cheating on them gets more common.

I am not at all convinced that the consumer is protected here. Multiple avenues -- some offshore using agents who operate blatantly outside the law, and secondly accountants and admins who get numb to daily cheating, and do more of it. I will go full YOLO and add that I think the waves of pain killer abuse and common alcohol culture, directly contribute to norms of low-level cheating over money like this, especially where it is "just data" and not actual money moving around.

100%. Lots of gray area here in "shouldn't", "illegal", "can't", etc.

That's why, in my experience, I think TheWorkNumber has a pretty good and individual-centric approach. I have to explicitly grant access to that data on a per-request basis with some form of one-time key that I provide to the requestor.

Compare that to a credit check, where ("if you're lucky") you sign something saying you're aware of and approve the request, but without any sort of real technical control.

> you (largely) can't run a credit check on me without my permission

In my country there are forums where every once in a while a guy with access to these credit systems shows up and starts literally taking requests. People post names and he reveals everything about the person's credit history. For free and in the open.

Wouldn't be surprised if it was just as easy in the US for some bank or employer to look up your entire financial history.

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