We have spoken with hundreds of identity theft victims in the past three years. We do not know to what extent credit header data, per se, is a factor in such identity theft cases. In fact, imposters have many ways to obtain Social Security numbers and other key pieces of data, among them, dumpster diving, mail theft, and fraudulent access to credit reports in companies such as auto dealerships where there is online access to credit bureau data bases. A further fact about credit header data deserves your consideration. Credit header data bases are, for all practical purposes, not consensual.
Consumers have no choice in the matter.
Anyone who participates in the credit economy, which is the vast majority of adults and even many youth, has a credit report. As a result of having a credit report, credit header data is compiled. This would limit access to such data for the permissible purposes associated primarily with granting credit. The sensitive data that is contained in the credit header would, as a result, be significantly restricted. Policymakers might be tempted to take the narrow action of removing only the SSN and birthdate from credit header data and allowing the continued sale of credit header data containing name, address, former addresses, and telephone number.