I spent the weekend researching data removal methods and decided to start with my credit report. I’m not even going to get into all of the alarming privacy invasions that popped up during this process. But when I got to the experian report, I was met with T&C box that says I have to hand over my phone carrier info and it wouldn’t let me proceed without doing so. The bureaus are legally required to give you one free report a year. It’s bad enough that these companies are even given rights to my data and now they’re using it to request further information.

I’m just so angry, frustrated, and violated.

On their website, go to the sign in screen and click “Need help signing in”. Go through the prompts and watch the person’s username, and the legal name of all their employers (who have ever used ADP) appear on the screen.

Note: Whether or not you select “my current employer uses ADP”, it will still show you the full list of both current and previous employers (who use ADP).

From there, it is remarkably easy to gain access to paycheck information if you are a grocer, a landlord, a retailer, or anyone of the 2737429193 entities who may have a little extra data on them.

Edit: To address some of the comments, I feel I need to clear something up. I’m not saying this is some authoritarian configuration error ADP messed up on. It’s a standard login that works conveniently for ADP and also happens to be negligent in privacy protection. And it’s most likely completely legal for most people in the U.S.

I’m looking into getting a flip phone with a separate number so that I can sign up for a few apps that without associating them with the complete identity profile in the data marketplace that is linked to my actual phone number.

To be clear, the apps will still be downloaded and utilized on my primary smartphone. But the phone number through which I receive verification codes during registration will be a separate device.

Has any one done this? Tips for selecting a cheapo phone and prepaid service?