In Part 2 of our three-part series on the history of credit reporting, we pick up where the early paper files left off and look at the technology that changed everything.
The arrival of computers in the 1960s and the widespread adoption of Social Security numbers helped transform credit reporting from a collection of local records into a massive national data system. And the industry was no longer simply asking, “Will this person repay the debt?”
It was beginning to ask a much bigger question: “What can we predict about this consumer?”
In this episode of Give Me Credit, John A. Mackey and I explore the rise of computerized credit reporting, consumer data collection, targeted marketing, and the eventual introduction of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and its protections for accuracy and privacy.
We also look at the uncomfortable tradeoff that has become part of modern life. Personal information can be collected, analyzed, bought, and shared in exchange for the convenience of the digital world.
Credit reporting started as a way to document financial history. Over time, it became something much more powerful: a system that can influence and shape economic behavior.
And we’re not done yet.
This is **Part 2 of 3** in our history of credit reporting series. Part 3 takes the story into the modern credit ecosystem and where all of this data ultimately leads.
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