Free information on their credit reporting messages are provided to consumers by the will of the government. Consumers should be able to understand such as the assessment of their creditworthiness easier. According to the latest draft bill of June 2008, the proposed provisions are primarily directed against allegedly non-transparent assessment procedures of various agencies, such as the so-called scoring.
The free credit report is not new, but so far subject to certain conditions. Thus, a request for information pursuant to § 34 para 5 of the Federal Privacy Act (Act) only be possible without financial cost, if the requestor does not use this information for commercial purposes. Moreover, eliminates the obligation to pay fees, if it is found that to correct data or stored in accordance with § 35 para 2 BDSG are deleted from the database. In future, every citizen should once a year get a free answer may.
With new rules of the consumer wants the legislature to move the major credit bureaus to be more transparent. To their repertoire for quite some time probability-based method with which they can generate statements about expected credit rating of persons. This works even if eligibility is exactly that person no concrete data. Alternatively, take the information services data from the environment of the customer approach: the unemployment rate in his area, the probability of default within the postcode area or within his age and profession. Gender also may play a role, but various studies show that women are more reliable payers. On the basis of such data, the credit agency to make a statement about the average payment probability that a company can always count on the customer. If the customer credit insufficient, may aggravate such as his bank's credit standards as a mortgage or an online shop to that customer only secure payment methods, such as advance, . Offer
leads Sometimes the pure statistics-based scoring, however erroneous credit ratings of customers with unpleasant consequences for the individual consumer. Companies have just recently quite often refused business with solvent customers a flat rate with a score value could assume credit risk. This criticized the Consumer Federation in a study published earlier this year. A disadvantage of consumers without examination of the case is contrary to existing privacy law, according to the tenor.
This bill brings the consumer advocates now a first triumph. Not only are their demand for a year, free consumer report has addressed the legislature, even the order of the scholarly record of scoring predictions is part of the new regulations.
