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FACT: Twittering Impacts FICO Scores. Believe it.

By
Services for Real Estate Pros with Virtual Pictures Corp. (VPiX)

Just when you thought it was perfectly save to Tweet while still in your pajamas... Just when you thought it was safe to invite another friend to your Facebook Mafia Wars... how you act in Social Media is being watched and measured.  And soon, thanks to a firm called Rapleaf.com -- how you Tweet may be affecting your FICO scores. 

Rapleaf.com -- is a new firm that has been trawling, collecting and selling your Tweets, Hugs, Causes and Pillow Fights. I'm outraged and shocked to have learned of the existence of this firm and quite frankly -- I think this is a huge intrusion into my private part of my life. I'm rather pissed off to learn that my chirps on Twitter can determine if I'm a credit risk or not. 

I don't mind blogging. I don't mind having to remove the occasional Twitter leeches following me or the college co-ed who wants me to help pay for her tuition, getting me to pay $39.95 to see her chat naked from her dorm room.

I do mind having my blogs and chirps collected then sold to the Government or the Credit Bureaus.

So, being naturally inquisitive -- I've written to and called on Rapleaf and speak to any member of their executive staff. I've yet to hear back from them. 

 

Apparently, Rapleaf.com's sole business purpose is to tap into the gazillions of Tweet's then they sell the data.

After spending a lot of time on their website, it's my guess that they sell a watered down version of this data cleverly disguised as "social network business intelligence information," that companies can buy.

My main concern is this: Are they selling data to the U.S. Government and the (3) Credit Bureaus jam packed with personal stuff that neither you nor I want them to have?  Your name. Your Twitter account. And how many times you broadcast how many cars you counted driving past your house. 

The question begging to be asked is this;

Is blogging with nothing to say, Chirping what you just ate for lunch, asking too many people to Hug you, join your cause, pillow fights, Mafia Wars... is this that sort of activity branding me as a moron, a person with a mental disorder, or as a credit risk to Equifax?

Enquiring minds want to know! 

Rapleaf.com is rumored to have drawn it's business and domain name from "RAP sheet," -- the kind of criminal record "nickname" used by the police. Rack up too many NEGATIVE points and you start to fall in what is being being called their "RAP sheet zone," which rates you as a bad credit risk.

 

Rap Sheet

 

 

 

Unless you've never watched the movie with Gene Hackman and Will Smith (Enemy of the State)  or any other Government conspiracy movie, you need to know that the CIA is watching you through a very real and scary electronics surveillance project called ECHELON (yes, that is the REAL name).  

There are a handful of very hot "key" words that the Government screens for electronically to identify possible homeland security threats. This is called the Patriot Act and the law permits the CIA to monitor your email, blogs, your cell phone and analog land line communications.

There's lots of good money in collecting this kind of information. I managed to call up all (3) of the Credit Bureaus before the Turkey Day Holiday and all of them confirmed they are getting data like this from multiple sources. Not one of them would disclose how much they pay for this data or how often they get it.

Below are the sources where they said data is being collected from on all of us; 

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • MySpace
  • The U.S. Government
  • Lexis Nexus
  • Your insurance companies (including medical records) 

 

Insurance companies have been using your FICO scores to determine how much of a risk you are behind wheel or not. In fact, many insurance companies use your FICO scores as a bigger determining factor over how many parking tickets you have.

 

Once I have a candid conversation with one of the principals of Rapleaf.com, I will post it here. But for now, keep in mind that your Tweets on Twitter are being monitored and are possibly being used against you.

 

So before you Chirp how bored you are by Tweeting that you are sitting on your porch," think twice and think about an intelligent thing to broadcast (instead) in your 140 character chirp.

 

Smart Chirps as opposed to stupid ones, just might fool RapLeaf into thinking you're 20 IQ points smarter or more successful than you really are, and you might see your FICO score go up simply because you a more socially smarter blogger. 


 

Posted by

Bart Wilson | CIO
..................................................................
Virtual Pictures Corp (VPiX®)  
iPhone: (719) 645-9940  |  Skype:  vpix360 

Comments (15)

Carol Pease
JP & Associates Realtors - Bastrop, TX
CRS, Broker-Associate 512-721-6320

Bart:

This is such a good post.  I could not believe that there was actually a company out there who could gather information about my tweets.  So what kind of tweet woud improve my FICO score?  When you figure that out let us all know.   I hope they make this a feature.  Maybe we can all tweet about Rapleaf.com and what A**holes they really are. 

Nov 30, 2009 08:35 AM
Tarris Rogers
Cascade Sotheby's International Realty - Bend, OR
Bend Oregon Real Estate

It's not surprising to learn that this is now being done.  You never...ever want to put anything on Social Media that you wouldn't feel perfectly comfortable sharing with a stranger.  I don't quite get why people feel the need to post private things in a public forum.

Nov 30, 2009 08:36 AM
Martin E. Kalisker, Esq.
Natick, MA
Real Estate Law From A Practical Perspective

Sounds like one for Snopes.com to look in to. I'm not sure I'm buying this story.  It' just too incredible if it is actually true.

Nov 30, 2009 08:46 AM
Bartley Wilson
Virtual Pictures Corp. (VPiX) - Monument, CO
VR Software and 360° Solutions

The problem with allowing firms like RapLeaf.com to become one more repository is the huge smoking gun here.  We have a firm that is collecting information from blogs, then providing this to the 3 credit bureaus.  

We can OPT out of junk mail lists, we can put our phone number on the FTC's Do Not Call List.  How do we stop firms like RapLeaf.com to NOT collect my personal blog information and then selling this with their CREDIT RISK rating system to the Government or to the Credit Bureaus? 

Credit Risks aside, this is just one more server waiting to be hacked and we have no clue who is going to hack them. Nor do we know how safe they are or how much information on you, me and hundreds of thousands of others are being saved there. 

I'm all for free enterprise and the American way. But who authorized companies like RapLeaf.com and who do they answer to and how can I make sure my information isn't being packaged and sold to another firm?

This is the real problem. 

-- bart

Nov 30, 2009 08:47 AM
Sherry Chastain
Hendersonville, Nashville, Old Hickory, Lebanon Tennessee - Hendersonville, TN
Realtor, Selling Homes, Lake Properties,Luxury Homes,Short Sales

Hopefully I am such a small pea they won't even notice I'm here.

Nov 30, 2009 08:51 AM
Timothy "TJ" Judd
Digital Income - Mount Pleasant, MI

Great post!, maybe having read it my Fico score will improve when they cross-reference with another company that tracks sites I've visited =). It reminds me of somehting i read about myspace and someone losing her benifits because an insurance company said she didn't appear to be depressed enough in the pics posted there, and the fact that some employers are now looking at social networking sites to consinder a persons employability and risk. Time to make sure there's no links between twitter, myspace, youtube, or whatever that would eventually lead to that picture of you at the college kegger years ago.

Nov 30, 2009 08:54 AM
Brian Lee Burke
Kenna Real Estate - Lone Tree, CO
Broker & Advising Expert-Kenna Luxury Real Estate

Sheesh. That's terrible. Immediately tweets and facebook apps started to flash in my head - not mine but the stuff I see there- sigh. ~Rita

Nov 30, 2009 10:36 AM
Brian Brumpton
Keller Williams Boise - Boise, ID
Boise Idaho Real Estate

Bart,

I'll have to check into this.  It's concerning, but as we've continually blasted stuff out there for the public to see, it was only a matter of time until someone found a use for all that data. 

People have questioned twitter's business model wondering how it intends to generate revenue but I guess it's got a higher purpose.  The power of social media being used against us.  Is that what they mean by there's no such thing as a free lunch? 

Nov 30, 2009 01:03 PM
Lynda Eisenmann
Preferred Home Brokers - Brea, CA
Broker Associate ,CRS,GRI,SRES, Brea,CA, Orange Co

Hi Bart,

I've found this to be very interesting to say the least. Yet, I'm still a little confused on how it actually could impact your scoring?

Nov 30, 2009 04:05 PM
FN LN
Toronto, ON

Bart - This is a new one.  I'm not sure how it would be used in the calculation or that they even know it is the same person as the person with the credit score.

Nov 30, 2009 09:43 PM
Gerry Michaels
Glasswork Media Arts - Gettysburg, PA
GettysburgGerry Social Meida

Not sure if I should even be commenting to this post, they may be watching. While I am not surprised the Govn't is collecting information, that has been going on since George Washington was President, I don't know if I am buying all the way into this. Sounds a bit over the top...

Nov 30, 2009 10:50 PM
Anonymous
Vivek Sodera

Bart,

 

Allow me to clarify -- we are not in the business of credit scoring based on tweets nor we do supply that type of data. I understand your concern, but this post is factually inaccurate. 

 

Rapleaf as a company searches publicly available information, including friend connections across various social media. We then use this data to help institutions and lenders decide who to give credit and whitelist (we are not in the business of blacklisting) based on the fact that someone's friends or social graph may have a high credit score.  That person therefore has an opportunity to receive credit whereas before they would have been denied. This has no correlation with one's Twitter activity.

 

Feel free to ping me at vivek {at} rapleaf {dot} com if you have any questions and I'll be more than happy to clarify.

 

Best,

 

Vivek Sodera

Co-Founder

Rapleaf

Dec 16, 2009 12:27 PM
#12
Andi Grant
310-508-4354 | FirstTimeHomeBuyerRealEstate.com - Los Angeles, CA
Helping 1st time buyers and home sellers in LA!

"We then use this data to help institutions and lenders decide who to give credit and whitelist (we are not in the business of blacklisting) based on the fact that someone's friends or social graph may have a high credit score."

Oh Good Grief!  Are you saying a regular Joe, social worker or probation officer who works/consorts with "society's undesirables" will not be "whitelisted" (any other list is considered BAD) because he/she has social media friends (clients and internet "friends") with bad credit, they could be clumped into it as well. So if they have a credit score of 680 -720 it could figuratively drop in the lender's minds based on social media association?  Please tell me I've misinterpreted what you've just said.

Seriously this is disturbing.  Big Brother has become Big Brother, Uncle and Distant Cousin all watching and waiting.  I just became ill.

 

 

Jan 03, 2010 05:18 AM
Bartley Wilson
Virtual Pictures Corp. (VPiX) - Monument, CO
VR Software and 360° Solutions

One of the founders of Rapleaf gave me "his side," of the story, but you have to ask yourself a big question here. Where's the money coming from? If I were to launch a new business tomorrow to collect the Facebook "writing on the wall," who the hell is going to be buying this?

It's a complete waste of time, just as it the collections of Tweets by Rapleaf is doing right now. Google already indexes the Tweets from Twitter, so anything that Rapleaf is offering is of inconsequential value. 

My phone calls to the credit bureaus have confirmed that they are buying information from "multiple sources," and while they did not kiss and tell, you have to ask yourself why we hear that Insurance companies are selling data to the credit bureaus, and now God only knows how many Rapleaf firms we are going to see that are going to be collecting data and doing unknown things with it.  Sure I post stuff online publicly, but it is for FREE and is not to be sold.  Maybe we all need to stop and have Twitter sign Privacy Policies with everyone who uses their platform to micro blog on?

If Twitter had ZERO people using it, the platform would be worth just that. ZERO. So until the people revolution comes along and all of us decide to SGTOP using Twitter until they sign a Privacy Policy from every one of us... we are going to be placing your credit scores, your intelligence and what you say up for sale to firms like Rapleaf. 

There is an old Dr. Suess book, called the Lorax. Originally published in 1971, it was one of the first books that focused on the dangers of plundering the world's natural resources:  TREES.

The Lorax would jump out of the forest and stop the bull dozers and lumberjacks from cutting down all the trees. Al Gore must have been inspired by that Cartoon because today, he is ringing the alarm bells for the damage that humans has done to our environment and climate. n

In a small way, I feel like the Lorax for many REALTORS.

I personally think that company's like RapLeaf serve no useful purpose but intend eventual harm so companies can collect data on people who are borderline morons with a marginal 690 FICO score. And their ranting about breakfast pizza might serve to prove how uneducated they are which can result in a lower FICO score just because of the quality of their Tweets. 

Bottom line, we don't need firms like Rapleaf and I call on all of you to support me in preventing more of them from dotting the landscape of unwelcomed intrusion into our personal lives. 

- bart

 

Jan 03, 2010 06:03 AM
Anonymous
Onlyrealmanleft
Here's an idea. Quit acting like a 14 yr. old girl and cancel your ridiculous twitter and Facebook accounts. You people deserve what you get for being so nosy and self absorbed.
Apr 13, 2011 01:17 PM
#15