1. Other Sources of Information
Module 5
Section 3

2. Credit Bureaus
Provide a central storehouse of information used to evaluate applicants for credit
Data supplied by banks, stores, and other businesses
Public records - lawsuits, liens, bankruptcies

3. Regulation of Credit Bureaus
Regulated by federal government
Fair credit reporting act
Can give information to employers, government, and insurance companies, and those who need it for legitimate purposes involving customer

4. Proposed Changes
Legal right to get a copy of their own report for free, and a list of those who have requested it
Prohibit employers from obtaining reports without person’s permission
or at all except for special kinds of jobs

5. Medical Records Data is personal and sensitive
Used for marketing purposes
Hard to restrict due to varying laws in different states
Insurance benefits require that we tell all

6. Medical Information Bureau
Non profit organization
Founded by insurance companies
Deter insurance fraud
Collect information

7. Privacy and Proposals for Health Care Reform
Creation of government database containing health and personal info
Requirement that a report on every medical visit be sent to a national network
Requirement for national ID card

8. Benefits of Reform Access to information when traveling
Ease of researchers to get information
Cheaper record systems
Provide better privacy protection than private health care providers

9. Problems with Reform Threat to privacy
Abuse of information made possible by large databases and ID cards
Errors could prevent medical care
Easier access by law enforcement
SSN is used as identifier - broad use

10. Technical and Management Protections
Each authorized user has unique ID code and password
Restrict operations of different users in areas where they do not need to go
Use audit trail to track usage by workers
Computer records reduce handling and potential reading

11. Privacy and Junk Mail Arguments for: Arguments against:
Reduces overhead, and therefore cost of products
People buy or it would stop
Population too large to cater to everyone’s individual desires
Arguments against:
Inconvenient intrusion on daily lives
No consent to whom the information is sold