cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Privacy Leak / Information Sharing from BofA

tag
Aahz
Established Contributor

Privacy Leak / Information Sharing from BofA

This may be a "known issue" that I was unaware of and/or something of little concern to most, but I thought I'd share a story with y'all in hopes someone finds it useful/informative.

 

In November 2018 my daughter and her girlfriend were spiritually (but not legally) wed and the GF legally changed her last name to my daughter's as well as the spelling of her first name.  While they shared expenses at "address A", they have no joint accounts (credit or bank), and are not legally linked on paper anywhere.

 

In October 2019 they moved to a place (address B) where they sublet land from the onsite property owner and where they do not receive mail, so they got a private mailbox (address C).  They did not file a change of address with USPS.  My daughter changed banks from a credit union that didn't serve their new area to a small local bank, providing addresses B and C.  The GF kept her BofA account, so informed them of both address Band C as well.  They obviously both informed the government of addresses B and C as well.  They have no direct utility accounts at either address A, B or C, and while their cellphones are both with the same carrier they're seperate accounts provided only with address C.

 

In 8 months they have not received a single piece of mail at their physical address (address B).  Until last week when they suddenly received a letter there from an estranged relative.  This shocked and scared them so we all went on a digital hunt to determine how someone connected that address to them.

 

All the public records we can find for my daughter still say she lives with me on the other side of the country (address D).  This is because I am helping her re-build her credit so it's my address on her credit reports.  Neither address A, B nor C appear on either her credit reports or in any of the "people finder" sites on the web. 

 

We don't have credit reports for the GF but she also has no active credit, just some old chargeoffs and currently defaulted student loans (which send mail to address E - her parents in yet a third state).  She does not appear on any "people finder" sites under her new legal name, but she does appear on them under her previous name connected only to address E and earlier.

 

Finally, we found a listing for her on whitepages.com under her new first name and old last name - a combination that's never legally existed - listing only addresses A and B, but nothing from before that.  She just appeared at age 24 according to the listing and at addresses that are not on any other public record.  The only places they could have found that combination name and addresses are the government, their cellphone carrier, and BofA.  Since the first two would have the addresses linked to my daughter as well, BofA is the only remaining option.

 

So, the point of that convoluted story is that BofA seems to be providing their client's personal information directly to WhitePages.com.  It is unlikley (though unconfirmed) that the GF opted-out of information sharing with BofA.

 

 

 

 

Message 1 of 8
7 REPLIES 7
Remedios
Credit Mentor

Re: Privacy Leak / Information Sharing from BofA

That's beyond unlikely.  

They probably got her contact info from another family member,  even if no one is willing to state so. 

Banks do not provide info for white pages. 

Message 2 of 8
Aahz
Established Contributor

Re: Privacy Leak / Information Sharing from BofA

How can you state authoritatively that "Banks do not provide info for white pages."? 

Their privacy statement states they share personal data for "marketing purposes".

Do you have access to a list of every company, partner and affiliate that BofA shares data with?

 

1) No one in the family had their street address.

 

but that's not the relevant point here.  The relevant point is...

 

2) Where do you think whitepages.com got those addresses then?

Message 3 of 8
Remedios
Credit Mentor

Re: Privacy Leak / Information Sharing from BofA


@Aahz wrote:

How can you state authoritatively that "Banks do not provide info for white pages."? 

Their privacy statement states they share personal data for "marketing purposes".

Do you have access to a list of every company, partner and affiliate that BofA shares data with?

 

1) No one in the family had their street address.

 

but that's not the relevant point here.  The relevant point is...

 

2) Where do you think whitepages.com got those addresses then?


 

White pages get their data same way that everyone else does, via data aggregators. 

You dont need to have a credit card or DDA in order for LN to have your info if you have DL. You dont even need to own a car. 

There are thousands of companies whose only job is to collect this info and sell it.

 

Do I have list of affiliates? 

No. Banks can and do share, but for marketing purposes, in order to offer you a new product or service. 

 

White pages sell your information, and due to difficulties in opting out, they have been subjects to lawsuits and many complaints about privacy invasion. 

 

All that is readily available via simple search. 

20200707_111754.jpg

 

 

I dont understand why you felt the need to respond in such a confrontational  manner. 

I hope you get answers you're looking for. 

Message 4 of 8
Aahz
Established Contributor

Re: Privacy Leak / Information Sharing from BofA

The tone in my reply was a result of the dismsisvness of your response - stating "Banks do not provide info for white pages" as if it was proven fact, when it's not. 

That same dismissivness continues in this second response with "All that is readily available via simple search." 

You (wrongly) assume that I hadn't already read the page you quoted when I already addressed the listed sources in my OP- 

 

1) There are no property deeds as they're renting, 

2) The telcom only has address C (not listed at WhitePages), and

3) There are no public records with this address.

 

We haven't done a LN pull yet, but the GF doesn't have a Driver's License and hasn't updated her state ID.  My daughter does have an updated DL, but neither address A, B, nor C appear on her WhitePages entry.  That is clearly not where they're getting their data. 

They both notified the IRS of all addresses, but again, the fact it appears on one but not the other shows that's not where they got the data.

 

The only place GF gave both addresses and daughter did not is BofA.

 

You do realize Whitepages.com also offers an FCRA Compliant "credit check", service right?  This could certainly fall into BofA's stated sharing "For joint marketing with other financial companies", "For our affiliates’ everyday business purposes", or "For nonaffiliates to market to you."

Message 5 of 8
dragontears
Senior Contributor

Re: Privacy Leak / Information Sharing from BofA

You don't have a credit report for the GF so you don't know if there is an address there

 

You don't have the LN report for the GF so you don't know what is listed there (and LN is the typical place this kind of information comes from)

 

It is, of course, possible that BoA shared information; however, with the errors you stated were in the information white pages did not get it directly from BoA (otherwise the information would be correct).

 

You would be surprised at how easy it is to have your address put into a database like LN. And LN is notorious for having inaccurate information. 

Sign up for the local grocery store loyalty card? Your address information is now available. 

Sign up for any rewards/loyalty program at a restaurant/gas station/office supply store/etc. Your address information is now available 

Enter a sweepstakes? Your address information is now available 

Even some types of jobs report basic information to these types of databases

Message 6 of 8
zerofire
Valued Contributor

Re: Privacy Leak / Information Sharing from BofA

You seam to underestimate how many middle men there are in every industry and how easy it is to leak info to them. You can go down the street and leak data 10 times easy. As for the estranged relative that is most likely a internal family leak. You can be surprised at how leaky family are internally. I personally have to be careful of what I say to mine as if I let something out that really shouldn't I will be hearing about it from the other side of the globe, literally. Family are only good at protecting their own from outside but if you are already inside with the attacker everyone is really only going to watch.

TU:837 09/19/23 Bank of America--EX: 841 09/20/23 Experian--EQ:832 09/21/23 myFICO--Gardening since N/A
Active:
Bank of America (Unlimited Cash Rewards WMC, Customized Cash Rewards WMC, Customized Cash Rewards VSC), Capital One Walmart WMC, Chase(Amazon Prime VSC, Freedom Flex WEMC [x2], Freedom Unlimited VC), Citi Dividend MC, Citizens GreenSense MC, Curve WEMC, Discover It C, FNBO Ducks Unlimited VSC, PenFed (Platinum Rewards VSC, Pathfinder Rewards VSC), Synchrony Bank PayPal Cashback MC, UMB Bank Simply Rewards VC[Milford Federal], US Bank (Altitude Go VSC, Cash+ VSC [x2], Pick n Save/Metro Market WEMC)
Wishlist: AAA Daily Advantage Visa, AOD Signature, Bellco Colorado Rewards, Citi Custom Cash, EBates, Nusenda Platinum Cash Rewards, Ollo Optimum, Redstone Signature, Security Service Power Travel Rewards, Vantage West Connect Rewards
Message 7 of 8
Aahz
Established Contributor

Re: Privacy Leak / Information Sharing from BofA

Not sure why people are focused on how the estranged family member got the address.  They admitted they got it from whitepages.com.

 

Received GF's LN report today which allowed us to pass the security questions to get her credit reports.  The address is on neither.

 

So we're still left with the actual question/mystery: where did whitepages.com get that name and address combo?

Message 8 of 8
Advertiser Disclosure: The offers that appear on this site are from third party advertisers from whom FICO receives compensation.