| Comment Number: | OL-100148 |
| Received: | 12/22/2004 2:47:28 PM |
| Organization: | |
| Commenter: | Lucinda Kussmaul |
| State: | MA |
| Agency: | Federal Trade Commission |
| Rule: | Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Request for Comment |
| Docket ID: | RIN 3084-AA94 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
Like information pertaining to my healthcare, information pertaining to personal credit or financial performance should be made available to me ON DEMAND and for FREE. A credit score, be it good or bad, will have long-reaching effects on my purchasing power and material well-being. Having such impact, a credit score is a very powerful thing. Since this "score" is intended to reflect my financial performance, and is assumed to be accurate by reporting and inquiring institutions, I should have full access to the details of how that score was derived as well as have the opportunity to dispute the score or any aspect of how the score was derived. This is MY information. Just like MY bank balance, I should be able to get at it whenever I please, and for free. Charging me a fee for access to my credit score is akin to charging a high school student for access to their SAT scores. Both scores are instruments of measure that will in part determine the paths and opportunities made available to the individual to whom the score pertains. As such an important and powerful vehicle of opportunity, it is essential that credit scores be made readily available to every individual. The College Board provides scores to every student just as the FTC should provide PKI-protected scores to individuals. It's simply *wrong* not to. I understand and agree with the need for individual credit scores. Companies big and small must have a way to protect themselves against high-risk consumers or fraudulent transactions. However, we are a country of individual people, not corporate conglomerations. WE THE PEOPLE need a way to protect ourselves, too. Charging me money to do so on my own? That's not just wrong, it's *completely* un-American. Thank you for requesting comments. I hope you find them useful in your decision-making process. Sincerely, Lucinda Kussmaul