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Very interesting how intuitive the need for credit agencies is when presented this way. They get a lot of (justifiable) hate today, but in a low/slow information world, it makes complete sense for there to be value in someone aggregating credit assessments. If you were going to do a deal with somebody back then it's not like you could just google them.
What do credit agencies add to the value chain in the digital age? Are they just glorified data brokers at this point? It makes sense for there to be value in someone mediating the data exchange between financial entities, but I'd expect them to occupy a similar space to financial market brokers rather than these high profile companies playing shell games with data, trying upsell you, and constantly getting hacked. With the proliferation of machine learning expertise their modeling/data knowledge is less valuable than it once was. Have they just stuck around due to inertia/regulatory capture? What's the end state here? Maybe someone more familiar with the industry could chime in, I've only had passing professional experience dealing with the big 3 agencies.
How do you "just Google" how often someone doesn't pay their debts? Credit rating is a data broker, sure - but they're brokering access to private data that shouldn't be accessible by itself, and they're adding validation/verification on top. You can't just Google that.
If the creditor files a lawsuit to go after your assets/wages, that's public record.
That only covers the case where the debt was large and delinquent enough to justify a lawsuit. Failing to make a few car lease payments or blowing off financed smartphone obligations probably won't show up on public records but are of interest to creditors.
It’s not that private, some is just not easy to get. But yes. The moment you read about it on google it’s already too late to act
So I tried to Google myself - I had some problems with my debts in the past - and found nothing... And it's not like I'd just let it be if I found anything, I'd go for the GDPR takedown immediately.
What you need is a tool like LexusNexus for doing oppo research on yourself. Google isnt what any pro will use when looking up osint about you (some osint is hidden or behind legal/le gates, which tools like LN or Westlaw etc help do the background deals for access to)
LexisNexis
I always do that for some reason!
There's still value in gathering the data and running a generic model over them so that the result can be shared with interested parties.