Your credit records can also be used to determine your eligibility for a job,45 for insurance,46 or even whether you can board an airplane.47
A typical loan application requires that you disclose:
• Your name and residential address.
• The name and address of your employer and how much you’re paid.
• Information about your spouse and children.
• A detailed listing of all debts you owe.
To borrow a substantial sum of money, you may be required to submit a financial statement. This is a formal listing of all assets and liabilities.
This information may be disclosed under a variety of circumstances. The lender may share this data with affiliated companies. Your repayment record is carefully tracked not only by the lender, but also by organizations the lender belongs to, including credit bureaus. The lender may also make an official public record of the loan through a county recorder’s office.
If you default on the loan and are sued, the loan application can be introduced as evidence, making it a matter of public record that anyone can review. Further, in a lawsuit, the opposing attorney can subpoena loan applications to verify any statements of your net worth made in discovery.
Your Medical Records for Sale
Whatever, in connection with my professional practice or not in connection with it, I see or hear, in the life of men, which ought not to be spoken of abroad, I will not divulge, as reckoning that all such should be kept secret.
– A portion of the oath of Hippocrates
In Hippocrates’ day, in ancient Greece, medical technology was non-existent. An extract of willow bark might be given to relieve pain and swelling. The foxglove plant might be administered to relieve chest pain. Patients paid physicians a modest fee out from their own pockets, or bartered for medical services.
Similar fee arrangements were routine in the United States until very recently. My father, who practiced medicine for over 40 years, occasionally bartered with patients who couldn’t afford to pay his fee. One time a patient brought him a bushel of tomatoes. Another patient gave him several sacks of candy, which I eager consumed.
In America’s modern medical system, few individuals pay for treatment out of their own savings. And both the government and insurance companies discourage the informal barter arrangements physicians used for thousands of years. Violations today may be considered tax evasion.
Insurance billing for medical services is a fact of life. Insurers demand detailed information from physicians, including mental health counselors and doctors, to justify continued treatment. According to Paul Appelbaum, vice president of the American Psychiatric Association:
Managed care companies are requesting much more information than they need to make coverage decisions, including “comments about suicide attempts, extramarital affairs, job-related problems, and drug or alcohol abuse.”48
Your medical records may also be released to the federal government, data-processing companies, and credit bureaus, in many cases without your consent.49
Employer Spying– On and Off the Job
Employers have long kept a watchful eye on employees during company hours. More than a century ago, the “punch clock” came into use. This devicerequired employees to clock in at the beginning and end of the workday. But monitoring has evolved from simple confirmation of physical presence into much more detailed surveillance of employee activities on – or off – the clock.
There are few privacy rights in the U.S. workplace. In most states, employers can:
• Prohibit you from speaking your opinion.
• Read your e-mail and monitor your keystrokes and Web-surfing habits at work.
• Search you or your office.
• Require you to submit to lie detector (polygraph) tests, if you work for the government or the tests are administered in connection with an ongoing investigation involving an economic loss to your employer.
• Monitor your credit record.
• Conduct random drug tests.
• Listen in on your telephone conversations at work.
• Require you to undergo medical or psychological examinations to determine your fitness for continued employment.
• Prohibit you from smoking tobacco or drinking alcohol.
• Conduct surveillance if you make a worker’s compensation claim to determine the claim’s validity.
In most states, if you refuse to consent to such restrictions, you may be dismissed. 50
You have a right to inspect files government agencies and credit bureaus keep on you. But you have no such right to inspect your own employment records (except in a few states).
Employers take many of these precautions to avoid lawsuits. For instance, if an employee downloads or otherwise brings sexually explicit materials into the office, an employer may be sued for sexual harassment. A racist opinion voiced by an employee at work may also lead to a lawsuit. So might an accident involving an employee who uses illicit drugs.
Identity Theft: The World’s Fastest Growing Crime
Imagine having creditors hounding you to pay debts you never incurred – foreclosing on your legitimate property, hauling you into court, or even asking police to take you into custody. You can’t buy a house, rent a car, or open a bank account, all because “the computer” shows that you’re a deadbeat. You know it’s not true, but convincing anyone else that the computer is wrong can almost be impossible.
This nightmare is called identity theft. And it’s the fastest growing crime in America. In 2008 alone, nearly 10 million Americans experienced some type of identity theft.51
• Debra and Robert Guenterberg live in Wisconsin. In 1995, Robert tried to buy a truck, but couldn’t obtain financing. He also was turned down for a mortgage and credit cards. Then collection agencies began harassing the Guenterbergs. It turned out that identity thieve had found Robert’s Social Security number and had used it to purchase three homes and numerous cars. They’re still trying to clean up the mess. More than a decade later, Robert still couldn’t open a checking account because his SSN was tied to one of the thieves. 52
• A pickpocket stole Margot Somerville’s wallet in 2006 on a San Francisco streetcar. Nearly two years later, police arrived at her home and led her away in handcuffs. Prosecutors in Colorado had issued an arrest warrant for her, claiming that she had stolen more than $60,000 from local bank accounts with fraudulent checks. Facing 19 felony counts, Somerville hired a criminal defense attorney and spent more than $50,000 to prove she wasn’t the culprit, but the victim. 53
• Los Angeles resident Linda Weaver was billed $60,000 for an amputation of her foot that never occurred.
