Your legal rights to accurate and private personal data

Large data brokers make a lot of money buying and selling your personal information. They track everything that they can about your life including your date of birth, social security number, life events, criminal background, medical records, financial information and more. This data is then often used for background checks and credit scores, and the information contained in these reports can have long reaching effects on your day-to-day life that you may not even be aware of.

Companies like LexisNexis, Axion and Intelius sort your information into categories such as characteristic data, home data, household vehicle data and household economic data. It turns out that your private, personal information and data is not much of either in the hands of these large companies.

If these companies have all of the correct information in your files, then they simply profit from your data — but you aren’t necessarily negatively affected. Unfortunately, these large meta data companies often make mistakes that are nearly impossible to get rid of.

How errors and inaccuracies can severely affect your life

When a data broker has the wrong information about an individual, this inaccurate information can be passed to potential employers, landlords or lenders performing background or credit checks. If a potential landlord gets a background check with a felony criminal record attached, they are less likely to rent the property to that individual — even if this information is wrong. These types of mistakes by data brokers can result in loss of employment, denial of rental applications and higher interest rates on loans. 

Getting inaccurate data removed from your credit report or background profile is also very difficult. The broker agencies are unlikely to make any changes based on a consumer’s individual complaint. In many cases, it requires filing a lawsuit against a data broker to see any changes to your personal data.

The right attorney to help you fight back

Los Angeles Attorney Robert F. Brennan has been fighting big data broker companies on behalf of consumers with inaccurate information being reported for years. Not only does he understand consumer rights, but also knows the importance of long term technology and data security for individuals. If you have had any issues with inaccuracies from a data reporting broker or company, call Robert Brennan today for your free legal consultation to find out if you may have legal rights that will get you the outcome you deserve.