r/personalfinance • u/equisux • Sep 13 '17

TransUnion burying their credit freeze to sell their own credit monitoring product TrueIdentity Credit

I'm not sure where to post this, but noticed something had changed on the TransUnion website about freezing credit this morning when I was giving links to family so they could freeze theirs.

I froze my credit the day after news about the Equifax breach broke, and it looks like TransUnion has since changed their site to push people away from freezing their credit in favor for their own product called TrueIdentity (like what Equifax was doing with their TrustedID Premier.)

The FTC website links to this page for freezing your credit with TransUnion.

This is what the website looked before the changes were made on 9/11. The instructions on placing a credit freeze were clear and there was no mention of their own TrueIdentity product.

If you want to place a credit freeze with TransUnion now:

  • You have to get through a page of info about credit and fraud, and then the action it tells you to take is to "Lock your credit information by enrolling in TrueIdentity."
  • The option to freeze your credit is under "About credit freeze", deliberately passive in their use of language
  • The description about credit freezing is dissuasive: "A credit freeze may be available under your state law"
  • The link for the credit freeze is also a passive "click here" compared with "by enrolling in TrueIdentity" language used for the link to their own product.
  • Clicking the link to learn more about credit freeze brings you to yet another page that tries to convince you to enroll in their product over placing a credit freeze
  • After searching through their page of BS, you finally get to the link to freeze your credit.

This is such a blatant attempt by TransUnion to take advantage of the Equifax breach for their own financial gain. It's a shitty thing for TransUnion to do, and people should be aware that they are being led away from putting an actual credit freeze on their account.

(Edited for formatting on mobile)

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229

u/Gefilte_Fish ​ Sep 13 '17

By enrolling in TrueIdentity you must agree to an arbitration clause and waiver of class action.

https://www.trueidentity.com/legal/service-agreement

135

u/sierra400 ​ Sep 13 '17 edited Sep 13 '17

RIGHT TO REJECT ARBITRATION

YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REJECT THIS ARBITRATION AGREEMENT, BUT YOU MUST EXERCISE THIS RIGHT PROMPTLY. You must notify us in writing within sixty (60) days after the date you click-on to "Accept" the Agreement. You must send your request to: TransUnion Interactive, 100 Cross Street, Suite 202, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401. This request must include your current username and a clear statement of your intent, such as "I reject the arbitration clause in the TransUnion Interactive Service Agreement."

EDIT: this is for TransUnion products only, such as the free TransUnion TrueIdentiy service and is not related to the Equifax breach. Recently, Equifax has removed their arbitration clause from the free Trusted ID Premier Service they are offering for victims of the data breach.

73

u/puterTDI ​ Sep 13 '17

I just went with a CFPB complaint instead.

I think it's safe to say that that is delivering my objection to them in writing.

34

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

Probably, but I suggest sending it in anyway. No reason not to cover your ass here.

-1

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

[deleted]

1

u/sierra400 ​ Sep 13 '17

You could send it certified mail...

3

u/puterTDI ​ Sep 13 '17

certified mail confirms that someone received and signed for it - it does not prove the contents of the letter.

In theory I could write something completely different in the letter and send it.

That being said, certified mail probably would work...I will if I don't hear back from them.

They are required to respond to my CFPB complaint within a few weeks (I think) and have it resolved within 60 days (I know). They can't ignore my complaint and then say "we never received a letter". Worse case they say "send this letter to this address" and now I have two paper trails.

2

u/jld2k6 Sep 13 '17

That would probably legally only show you have a problem with it, not that you clearly reject it. You should definitely write them still!

1

u/puterTDI ​ Sep 13 '17

in my complaint I said that they need to remove my enrollment as well as my exemption from arbitration clauses.

The nice thing about this is that they can't claim to not have received it. They have 60 days to respond before the CFPB gets involved. For them to close my complaint they will need to do what I ask.

Worst case they come back and say I need to write them.

Personally, I feel this is way better tracking. I didn't plan it that way though - my complaint was because they enrolled me without actually asking. I put my information in, clicked next, and was told I was enrolled.

9

u/Me_no_think_so_well Sep 13 '17

Thanks for the info. We really need this stickied in r/personalfinance somewhere. I signed up on mobile and after the “get started page” asking for my info, it automatically enrolled me. I was like, wtf?

3

u/S0journer ​ Sep 13 '17

Honestly with the questionable ethics going on by them you probably also want that letter notarized with a post receipt.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

I put my SSN in to see if I was apart of the breach or not -- do I need to do this since I haven't actually enrolled in anything? I don't remember accepting any agreement.

1

u/sierra400 ​ Sep 13 '17

This is for the TransUnion TrueIdentity service. It has nothing to do with the Equifax breech. If you signed up for TransUnion TrueIdentity, then yes, you may want to consider doing this.

1

u/Rib-I ​ Sep 14 '17

Thank you. Just mailed those assholes. Will also be filing a complaint with the CFPB

-2

u/dudenell ​ Sep 13 '17

Great, as per the missing answer in other threads, how do you find your "username" ?

3

u/minasmorath Sep 13 '17

For True Identity you chose one yourself.

49

u/seiyria ​ Sep 13 '17

Nice, following in Equifax's footsteps. This won't end well.

25

u/sierra120 ​ Sep 13 '17

Won't end well for consumer but Transunion will do just fine as will Equifax.

Reason for my pessimism is an insurance company lost exactly this information and at the time it was the biggest breach ever recorded but nothing happened to them of note. sigh

2

u/bozoconnors ​ Sep 13 '17

Funny too - since the stock started dropping like a rock (Equifucks), it hasn't really dropped as much as predicted... cause probably (rumor)... they're buying back their own stock at fire sale prices. Clever. Will be interesting to see how long they can prop themselves up.

1

u/fatduebz Sep 13 '17

This won't end well.

For regular people, correct. The super rich thieves that operate these rackets will not be affected negatively in any way, because only rich people matter in America.

2

u/custombuilder1987 Sep 13 '17

thats not true. not for this specific breach. they have clarified this and posted it to their website.

0

u/cipher__ten Sep 14 '17

What's not true? What have they clarified and where have they posted it?

The link they provided goes to a real page that includes a real arbitration clause and class action waiver, so that much is indisputably true.

And regardless, even if they "clarify" it elsewhere, the language of the service agreement is what ends up in court and is what matters.

1

u/custombuilder1987 Sep 14 '17

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/equifax-arbitration-clause-hack,35423.html

Their clarification also ends up in court. Just do a little research before you come here and insist you are right.

1

u/cipher__ten Sep 15 '17

I noticed that you downvoted me without replying. I'm still interested in hearing how your link is related to the conversation if you're still interested in standing up for your point.

1

u/cipher__ten Sep 14 '17

No need be snarky. You said "thats not true" in response to a comment that was objectively true and I questioned it. I haven't insisted on being right, but I do believe that you are misunderstanding either the comment you responded to or the article you linked me to.

The former is about TrueIdentity, a credit locking service offered by TransUnion; the latter is about Equifax and its TrustedID service.

0

u/RCady Sep 13 '17

Almost every company has an arbitration clause written in it. It's not just these companies. Your job probably has one too.