Data Protection Ombudsman: Quick Text Message Loans break the Personal Data Protection Law
@ 11:03 pm Data protection board: Personal ID number, phone number, and address aren’t enough to identify the loan applicant.
If I was running one of those quick SMS loan companies, with that information above, I could go to Asiakastieto and look up the person’s credit history. With the bank account number, I could ascertain if the name of the applicant is the same as the owner of the account. Currently, I could also have the Finnish taxpayers’ incomes (Veropörssi) all downloaded to my computer from the Internet to see what kind of income the person makes and if the municipality matches. (this is another Personal Data Protection Law issue, which is going to the oral hearing in the European Court of Justice in the middle of February) I could also call the person and ask a few questions to see if it sounds like the same person and double check the address and personal ID number. Most people know their own address and personal ID number by heart. One could also check the public registry to see if the name and address match. After all that, certainly I would be willing to risk a few hundred Euros in order to get a return of 15% or more interest on a few weeks’ investment. That’s what business is about – taking a calculated risk, hoping to make some money.
Is possible identity theft the real issue? One company, Tammi Rahoitus, reported 8 incidents of misuse when giving a few thousand loans. I think it is a novel new business idea. The government has been after these new businesses from the beginning. I would only be thankful for the new tax revenue. Maybe they want to take all of it over and put it under a government monopoly. Some have been arguing that people can get the loans too easily and some restrictions have even been made so that people take the loans during the time of day when most people are sober. Is the problem that someone is bothered by someone making really good money with a novel new business idea while doing very little actual work, in a business where they only need to invest a few thousand Euros?
Well, it doesn’t bother me anyway. When I need a loan, which I rarely do, I can always find a friend or relative to borrow money from, and they don’t charge interest.
