Dear Help Squad,
In August 2011, I checked my credit through the three credit agencies. When reviewing Experian’s report, I discovered my name was affiliated with [three individuals living] in Sterling. I had no idea who these people were. The other two agencies did not list this incorrect information. When I called, I was told Experian inadvertently matched these names to mine, which in turn, affected my credit score. Experian immediately corrected the error and sent me a new credit report with an upgraded score.
At the closing of my home in April 2012, I was asked who [these individuals] were, as [the lender] still had them in their reports. I explained Experian’s error and was able to close on the house with no problems.
Months later, a friend contacted me regarding info she found on WhitePages.com stating I was affiliated with [these individuals] and I had lived in Sterling! After much trouble, I was able to get my name and all info removed from WhitePages.com. Over the past few years, WhitePages.com has re-added my name, listing me as currently living in Sterling and affiliating me with [the individuals] again.
Now I find several other address finders have my name – also with the incorrect information. Did Experian sell a list to WhitePages.com, and they in turn sold a list to other address finders? I just want to have removed the people not affiliated with me. Can you help?
Linda, Skokie
Linda sent me links to four listing services: WhitePages.com, BeenVerified.com, MyLife.com and PeopleFinder.com. After clicking on each, it appeared that BeenVerified was currently the only site containing incorrect information. I proceeded to reach out to each service, along with Experian, to learn more about their data sources and whether listings can be corrected. I received responses from BeenVerified, MyLife and Experian. Following several attempts, I never heard back from WhitePages or PeopleFinder. Below is what I learned.
Anonymous MyLife.com customer care representative:
“In this case the information on MyLife probably came from Experian or other public sources of information. We gather public information … and sometimes provide an expedited method through our services to correct, remove or potentially hide public information. The … public service sites we source information from [are] PeopleFinders, 411Locate, Spokeo, WhitePages, Intellius, USPeopleRecords, PeopleSmart etc.”
Carla, BeenVerified.com customer care representative:
“BeenVerified aggregates data from a number of publicly available sources. These can include … mortgage deeds and court records, … magazine subscriptions, warranty cards and utility bills. [S]ometimes the information in public databases is not 100% correct. One of the many reasons we started BeenVerified was to give everyday people the ability to see the data that’s … collected about them.
“We are currently working on a feature that would allow customers to correct their listings … This feature is not available yet, but it’s something we see a need for and look forward to offering in the future.”
Rod Griffin, director of public education; Roslyn Whitehurst, director of public relations, Experian:
“I don’t know how this data would wind up in WhitePages’ information because that wouldn’t have anything to do with a credit report,” Griffin said. “We have marketing data that helps businesses identify potential customers, completely separate from our credit reporting business.”
When asked for a definitive answer as to whether Experian provides data to web-based listing services, as well as where Experian gets its data, Whitehurst provided me a link to Experian’s Usage of Marketing Data web page. Though neither Griffin nor Whitehurst answered directly whether Experian sells data to WhitePages.com or the others, my reading of this page indicates it is possible: “We serve industries like retail, financial services, telecommunications, … and consumer products …” “[W]e also collect consumer information from original sources. These sources include … websites that have permission to share information about visitors [and] public records …”
My take-away from all of the above, combined with Linda’s assertion that her listing keeps changing from correct to incorrect and back again, is that these services are symbiotic: due to their reliance on public records, each sources data from the other, resulting in the potential for incorrect information to be dropped and added in an endless loop.
Need help?
Send your questions, complaints, injustices and column ideas to HelpSquad@pioneerlocal.com.
Cathy Cunningham is a freelance columnist for Pioneer Press.
