Slashdot Mirror
Equifax Releases Credit Locking App That Doesn't Work (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: On Wednesday, the beleaguered credit reporting agency Equifax launched a new service to protect people from the risks of identity theft that the company vastly magnified with a breach of over 145 million people's credit records last year. The service, called Lock & Alert, is fronted by a mobile application and a Web application. It is intended to allow individuals to control access to their credit report on demand. "Lock & Alert allows You to lock and unlock your EIS credit report ('Equifax credit report')," the services' terms of service agreement states. "Locking or unlocking your Equifax credit report usually takes less than a minute." Except when it doesn't.
As Tara Siegel Bernard and Ron Lieber of the New York Times reported, the new service -- which is different from a "freeze" in some ways that are not clear from a legal and regulatory standpoint -- has not been working for some (and possibly all) mobile app users. The idea of the "lock" is that it can be undone in an instant with a swipe of the screen, without incurring a charge to freeze or unfreeze the report or having to provide a PIN number. But attempts by Siegel Bernard to lock her husband's credit report resulted in application timeouts.
As Tara Siegel Bernard and Ron Lieber of the New York Times reported, the new service -- which is different from a "freeze" in some ways that are not clear from a legal and regulatory standpoint -- has not been working for some (and possibly all) mobile app users. The idea of the "lock" is that it can be undone in an instant with a swipe of the screen, without incurring a charge to freeze or unfreeze the report or having to provide a PIN number. But attempts by Siegel Bernard to lock her husband's credit report resulted in application timeouts.
Seriously, how is this joke of a company still allowed to do business? An example should have been made, and considering how redundant they are (at least 4 other credit reporting companies I know of), they should be made an example to ensure the others get their act together.
You (the consumer) are not their customer. Their customers are banks, mortgage lenders, credit card companies, and other entities that loan you money, or let you buy on credit.
It is not in Equifax's interests for you to freeze your credit. A frozen account is a customer account that cannot be monetized (e.g. by being sold to banks who want to push their credit card on you). So of course Equifax will try to convince you that their "freeze that is not really a freeze" app works. But the thing is, they don't want it to work. If it works, they lose money. So of course it will fail, and you will be the one holding the bag when you are targeted by credit thieves.
Don't screw around with Equifax. Freeze your credit report, and be done with it (and them).