Privacy Issue Caught in Credit Network Information Stored in Computer Databanks May Be Incorrect and Can Be Misused Series: Privacy in the Computer Age. First in a Four-Part Weekly Series

Simson L. Garfinkel, Monitor, The Christian Science Monitor

CATHERINE SMITH got the surprise of her life when she was rejected for a loan. Her credit record - information in a credit reporting agency's computer files - showed more than 40 notices of outstanding balances and delinquent accounts, but the charges were for things she had never bought. Apparently someone had discovered her Social Security number and used it to apply for credit in her name, listing a post-office box in Texas. When the bills came in, that person hadn't paid.

Privacy in the United States is increasingly being invaded in today's world of computers and interconnected databanks. Never before, experts say, has it been so easy to obtain detailed information …

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Publication information: Article title: Privacy Issue Caught in Credit Network Information Stored in Computer Databanks May Be Incorrect and Can Be Misused Series: Privacy in the Computer Age. First in a Four-Part Weekly Series. Contributors: Simson L. Garfinkel, Monitor - Author. Newspaper title: The Christian Science Monitor. Publication date: July 18, 1990. Page number: Not available. © 2009 The Christian Science Publishing Society. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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