California Congresswoman Jackie Speier has asked Equifax to prove that The Work Number, an Equifax subsidiary, is not skirting laws designed to protect consumer privacy. Her inquiry arose out of an NBC story that consumer employment information was being stored in a database by The Work Number, and then sold to debt collectors and other financial services players.

In a press release on the Congresswoman’s website, Speier is quoted as saying, “The Work Number appears to have operated under the radar, with little public awareness of the vast trove of data it was gathering. There is no greater threat to privacy than the creation of a database of sensitive consumer financial and personal information sold for profit for purposes that are unclear and without the knowledge of the consumer. Equifax needs to explain exactly how it is using this data, and provide evidence that The Work Number does not pose a threat to the privacy of 190 million Americans.”

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