It seems to me that this breach as outlined by F. Manjoo in the NYT today is about trust. The crown jewels have been stolen. Because they all use the same dataset and we’ve always considered them interchangeable, there is no difference, TransUnion and Experian are as culpable as Equifax.
So, now that the data that all of the credit reporting agencies share is no longer private, they, as a group, are no longer in a position of trust. Their charter is trashed, they should all begin the process of removing themselves from their roles in our financial networks.
It can’t matter any more how important they are to the financial world, my credit is now worthless, it can’t be trusted. It pisses me off, that after years of safeguarding my standings in their ranks, it all comes to naught. And it has, there is no recourse, no way to put the data back into safe keeping. This signals and end to their reign and like Bear Stearns, they should fail.
My credit rating is meaningless. I’m not worried, I have no plans to borrow, our household subscribes to paying cash, the credit accounts we have are still sound. But I am worried about the millions of others who have large amounts of debt, who still need to prove credit worth, now they have no means to restructure their debt. This will cause more pain than anyone is speaking of today. All these people can say “I isn’t my fault, I was hacked, it wasn’t me” when they miss their next payment.