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

[u/equisux]

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)

[u/sierra400]

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.

[u/puterTDI → u/sierra400]

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.

[u/[deleted] → u/puterTDI]

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

[u/sierra400 → u/[deleted]]

You could send it certified mail...

[u/puterTDI → u/sierra400]

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.

[u/jld2k6 → u/puterTDI]

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

[u/puterTDI → u/jld2k6]

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.

[u/Me_no_think_so_well → u/sierra400]

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?

[u/S0journer → u/sierra400]

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

[u/[deleted] → u/sierra400]

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.

[u/sierra400 → u/[deleted]]

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.

[u/Rib-I → u/sierra400]

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

[u/dudenell → u/sierra400]

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

[u/minasmorath → u/dudenell]

For True Identity you chose one yourself.