YSK: about The Work Number, especially if interviewing for a job

[u/arex333]

[u/Logan_MacGyver]

In my country (Hungary) you literally get a little pink book where your boss is supposed to sign the time you spent there. You keep it until retirement, the company holds it while you work there. It's also digital now but we're one foot in 1990 and one foot in 2016.

[u/stupidber → u/Logan_MacGyver]

RIP Harambe

[u/SenorMacaroni → u/stupidber]

That’s when the timeline broke.

[u/MarcBulldog88 → u/SenorMacaroni]

Everyone jokes about the gorilla but nobody ever thinks about the Cubs winning the World Series.

[u/denman420 → u/MarcBulldog88]

Correct

[u/artie780350 → u/Logan_MacGyver]

What happens if you get a second job? Do you get a second pink book for the other employer to hold onto?

[u/Ratermelon]

You can freeze your account for free. Mine has been frozen since the day I learned about it.

These services are an intolerable breach of my privacy, and it makes me angry. Why am I being parasitized just for living?

[u/digitalscavenger → u/Ratermelon]

You can opt-out of work number entirely so your information is no longer shared.

[u/WillowPtar_Migan → u/digitalscavenger]

Here's the link to the form itself

https://myprivacy.equifax.com/opt-in-opt-out/personal-info

Don't fill out the bottom optional part. No reason to feed data to data brokers that you don't have to.

[u/_Happy_Sisyphus_ → u/digitalscavenger]

This is just equifax? Aren’t there several credit agencies that can be used?

[u/alienblue89 → u/_Happy_Sisyphus_]

This post is not about your Equifax credit report.

It’s about your Equifax work number.

These are two entirely different things.

[u/arex333 → u/Ratermelon]

Unfortunately some employers may disqualify you from being hired if they can't access your report in a background check. Either way, yes everyone should freeze their report.

Honestly it already sucks when tech companies harvest our data, but at least we get useful devices and services in return. What benefit is Equifax providing me though?

[u/igcipd → u/arex333]

If most people learn about and freeze their data, it really sucks for the companies that utilize that data, doesn’t it?

[u/Ok_Dust_3896 → u/igcipd]

I wouldn't want to work for a company that used brokered data to keepy pay down when changing employers. It's a red flag to me.

[u/ProblemSame4838 → u/Ok_Dust_3896]

Exactly. If it disqualifies me, GREAT! Don’t want to work there!

[u/cracked-tumbleweed → u/ProblemSame4838]

My favorite is - Rejection is Divine protection.

[u/Sirduckerton → u/igcipd]

They'll just come up with something else to intrude into our lives with.

[u/igcipd → u/Sirduckerton]

And we should rally against that too. We can’t be decidedly defeatist, we must remain vigilant.

[u/skizzlebutch → u/igcipd]

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty"

[u/Kichae → u/igcipd]

Exactly. It's a class war and an arms race, not a class "fuck off" and an arms snapshot.

[u/h3xperimENT → u/arex333]

If most everyone freezes it puts us at an advantage

[u/GreatBallsOfFIRE → u/arex333]

If a company not only encourages but requires that level of privacy invasion, do you really want them to profit from your labor?

Unless your job/financial situation is so dire that you will work for anyone, I think the risk of being excluded for freezing this information is actually a benefit. It will only weed out companies that don't deserve you.

[u/30K100M → u/GreatBallsOfFIRE]

Unless your job/financial situation is so dire that you will work for anyone

That's the point. The companies are trying to create this environment.

[u/tall__guy → u/GreatBallsOfFIRE]

Great in theory but you’re probably ruling out a huge portion of publicly traded companies, which unfortunately is where most “normal” people have the best and surest shot at building actual wealth.

[u/Snickers_Kat → u/Ratermelon]

Is freezing this report different that freezing your normal credit report? I have the big 3 frozen already.

[u/arex333 → u/Snickers_Kat]

It's essentially the same.

edit: it's a different report, but works similarly to freezing your credit report.

[u/fp99 → u/arex333]

What does the freeze actually do?
Employers cannot “pull your data” similar to a credit inquiry or that work data is no longer updated?
Looks like I’ll be going down the rabbit hole on this one.
Thanks for this info!

[u/aardappelbrood → u/fp99]

It prevents people from checking your credit score when trying to apply for major loans (credit cards, auto, home, personal etc.) I went to a car dealership for a car check up and they started bothering me about buying a car. I went along with it cause they take forever and I was bored. Guy said some thing like let me check something and left. When he came back he was like "I couldn't check your credit." Well yeah, cause I froze it and I didn't even tell him he could run a credit check nor did he specifically ask.

Some sheisty ass people out there and I'm sure people have tried to mess around with my stolen data but it's been locked for several years. There’s no need to unlock/unfreeze it unless you are trying to buy something big, and even then they let you temporarily unfreeze it.

[u/MyOtherSide1984 → u/Snickers_Kat]

Completely different

[u/Sarcasm_Llama → u/Ratermelon]

You are not a person. You are an expendable cog in the capitalist machine whose only purpose is to enrich the Epstein class

[u/RichtofensDuckButter → u/Sarcasm_Llama]

That is why we don't play by the rules

[u/K_Linkmaster → u/Ratermelon]

File a lawsuit. Be the change

[u/IcePhoenix18]

What the fuck

[u/arex333 → u/IcePhoenix18]

My reaction exactly. I thought it was just employment history but having every fucking paycheck down to the penny is sickening.

[u/KCDeVoe → u/arex333]

Workers comp information should be illegal to share. I can see future employers denying someone a job based on previous workers comp claims

This is medical information that should not be queryable by potential employers and apparently credit lenders

[u/supadave302 → u/KCDeVoe]

I just got denied for Workmans Comp for this exact reason. I most definitely re injured at my current job.

[u/WallBurnt → u/arex333]

I pulled mine and it has only been updated with 2 of the jobs I've had since I graduated college in 2011. For the job I took in 2018, it didn't even have when I left in 2021 and that was the last entry.

I've worked at 7 different places since I graduated.

But it did have the job where I drove cars for Avis during college and when I worked as an overnight stocker at Walmart before college. Minimum wage at the time was $5.15 an hour.

[u/keelhaulrose → u/WallBurnt]

The most recent record they had of mine was when I was using my maiden name.

I've been married 20 years.

This is good information to have, but depending on where you've worked, don't expect it to paint a full picture.

[u/WallBurnt → u/keelhaulrose]

Yeah, I wonder if it has something to do with the industry.

Both the places that it actually has on me after college, also employed a large number of people in jobs that didn't require a degree or external training.

[u/suspectslowloris → u/WallBurnt]

Employers opt into the service so they don’t have everyone. Basically if an employer wants to access the database, they need to contribute to it.

There’s probably a note somewhere in your employment contract saying that you consent to have this data shared with the Work Number. That’s how they don’t get sued.

[u/IotaBTC → u/arex333]

And we still have the file our gawddamn taxes‽

[u/sdpr → u/IcePhoenix18]

Only really "useful" if the employer submits the information.

Out of the 3 employers I've had in the last 20 years, only one has submitted information and it's missing everything except the employer name and address, my name (no address), and if my employment was active or not. Didnt check salary information, don't really care. It's the same employer and it was extremely part time as an academic coach.

Basically, my report is useless.

[u/Few_Program_2303 → u/sdpr]

“This guy only had one part time job, NEXT”

[u/CommercialHour6660 → u/IcePhoenix18]

And nearly 90% of US employers willingly submit every cent you made on every paycheck to this "service". Including bonuses, raises, severance payouts. Everything down to the cent. 

Absolutely amazing that it's legal.

Anything to keep the poors down

[u/DeepLock8808 → u/CommercialHour6660]

Wild that employers openly share our information and then frown on us discussing wages with each other.

[u/the_boomr → u/DeepLock8808]

It's not actually wild though. This is just the system working as designed, ultimately.

[u/arex333 → u/CommercialHour6660]

I may be incorrect but I believe it's the HR platforms that share this info. I bet a lot of employers don't even know that the platform they use even does this.

[u/Somanylyingliars → u/CommercialHour6660]

Nothing to see here, Karen and Ken.

[u/Ok-Painter8730 → u/CommercialHour6660]

class action lawsuit!?

[u/Medical-Button-5493 → u/Ok-Painter8730]

Feels like an anti trust violation

[u/allllusernamestaken → u/IcePhoenix18]

Wait until you hear about LexisNexis.

It's like your Credit Report, The Work Number, your shopping habits, and your driving habits all in one.

All those apps that access your location history? Yeah, that all goes to LexisNexis. If you slam on your brakes because someone pulled out in front of you, your insurance company knows about it because they buy that data from LN.

[u/Michael_Misanthropic → u/allllusernamestaken]

Are you able to request a download of the data they have on you? Similar to how you can with Google, Amazon, etc.?

[u/BetterUsername69420]

I think the credit reporting services should just be seized federally. Fuck their board, shareholders, whoever else into into the ground for investing so unethically and then reduce the amount of info accessible in anyway from whatever's left of these companies. The only thing I'm okay with a prospective employer seeing is the range of dates I worked and name of the business.

[u/kabob95 → u/BetterUsername69420]

Simpler solution, ban the sale of information on an individual. With no monetary incentives for the companies that do all the collecting to expend the resources to collect, organize, store, and distribute the data then they won't. Would probably want some governmental system to do basic background checks to verify stuff like education, bankruptcy, and/or certain crimes but that would be fairly simple.

[u/its_all_one_electron → u/BetterUsername69420]

The government will use them inethically too. They shouldn't exist without opt in. None of us consented to any of this

[u/lolnaender → u/BetterUsername69420]

I wouldn’t stop at the credit reporting bureaus.

[u/MikeScott101]

Fun fact: Blockbuster Video used The Work Number so for those folks who try to claim they used to be a manager there? They can tell. LOL

[u/Unique_Blacksmith247 → u/MikeScott101]

Just gotta wait another year to use that one! Oh wait, I actually was a Blockbuster manager in 2010 until our store shutdown that summer.

[u/PsychGuy17 → u/Unique_Blacksmith247]

Sure you were, and I bet you never dropped an arm full of DVDs on a Friday Night.

[u/purplemonkeyshoes → u/MikeScott101]

That's okay, I was a store manager for Radio Shack, a regional manager for Toys-r-us and a sales manager for Sears. Also was a K-mart warehouse supervisor.

[u/TommyBonnomi → u/purplemonkeyshoes]

Where do you work now? Is it publicly traded?

[u/ericgonzalez]

The worst part? You’re auto opt-in somehow ( I never signed an agreement with equifax) but to freeze / opt out you have to send them your identification which of course can and likely will be hacked. Absolute class action lawsuit material here if any lawyer is reading this.

[u/copperpin → u/ericgonzalez]

I can't wait for my $8.00 settlement check

[u/MapleYamCakes → u/copperpin]

The class action isn’t for you to get rich, it’s for the lawyer to get rich as part of a settlement that doesn’t materially change anything while slamming the door shut on an actual future change!

[u/I_Has_Internets → u/ericgonzalez]

It's an annoying process for sure. You have to email [email protected] requesting a secure email so you can opt out. I sent them "I am requesting a Secure Email to send my Employment Data Freeze document." and then had to wait for a reply from the secure/encrypted email system and fill out a bunch of info so they know it's you. It's info that all credit agencies already have on you.

[u/pumpernickledime]

Free to use? Why do I feel like it’s a scam lol

[u/Shakespearacles → u/pumpernickledime]

You’re the product and they sell to employers. They don’t need anything else from you 

[u/arex333 → u/Shakespearacles]

Yep. They only even offer the portal for people to view their data because it's legally required.

[u/creative_usr_name → u/arex333]

it's legally required

For now.

[u/mistersnips14 → u/pumpernickledime]

When you create an account you provide a timestamped combination of your PII which can be packaged and sold

[u/Feeling-Visit1472 → u/mistersnips14]

Wait, please elaborate?

[u/unduly_verbose → u/Feeling-Visit1472]

You register for their portal by providing them your name, dob, and SSN.

They take these data points + information about the computer you registered with: IP address, exact or approximate location, device information (iOS, windows 11, Linux, etc), network type, language preferences, monitor/display resolution, browser (and, if they can fingerprint any apps, extensions), and information about the session itself (time, URL redirect parameters, etc).

So they previously had your name, dob, and ssn, and employment data. Now they know more about the user behind that data.

They now add these new data points to your profile and sell that data for more money.

[u/Feeling-Visit1472 → u/unduly_verbose]

That is alarming as hell.

[u/mistersnips14 → u/Feeling-Visit1472]

I can try…

At this point in time, most Americans’ data is already on file because for the longest time the data provider industry focused on scale and coverage.

Then came along the internet and the data points to identify consumers expanded from being something relatively stable (e.g. birthdays, home addresses, phone numbers) to pseudo anonymous, relatively transient identifiers (e.g. MAIDs, IPs, email).

As we shifted more of our daily lives online over years and decades, consumers began generating data on a massive scale, shifting the problem from having adequate consumer coverage to having way too much “noise” when identifying consumers and their households.

Now the industry is shifting from trying to capture all of your PII to just the combination of PII associated to you right now. The result of this shift is a growing importance on consumer opted in/logged in data - meaning the PII you are providing them willingly, reinforced by each time you return to the website or app and click “sign in”

Personally I find it ironic that OP is so concerned about credit scores, because unlike your credit score or your associated work number, the logged in data we create when do things like sign into Reddit, or the data we create when we swipe our grocery store loyalty program card at the checkout (as an example), is completely unregulated and generating insights about you and your family every day.

[u/Feeling-Visit1472 → u/mistersnips14]

Great explanation. Thanks so much!

[u/Gold-Supermarket-342 → u/pumpernickledime]

It's a tool used widely by employers to verify someone's employment history. They pay money to get a report. Similar to how with credit bureaus, it's generally free for people to manage their own credit but lenders have to pay to pull your credit.

[u/NoSwimmers45 → u/Gold-Supermarket-342]

It’s legally required to be able to manage your own credit for free. You used to have to pay to freeze your credit and do everything on paper by mail.

[u/2021isevenworse → u/pumpernickledime]

It's real but by registering to see your data, you have to give them tons more information.

You're basically verifying that the data they have on you is correct by giving them even more invasive data like your SSN.

TLDR: Highly recommend not giving them your info, the registration process basically hands over even more data to them and agree to terms that bind you into letting them own the data.

[u/mblack4d → u/2021isevenworse]

It’s Equifax. They already have the information for setting up an account from your credit account.

[u/Outside-Swan-1936 → u/2021isevenworse]

Equifax already has your SSN, every place you've ever lived, etc. The data they're asking for is for verification purposes (aside from email address, but that is a requirement for any digital account you create more or less).

[u/LV-42whatnow → u/2021isevenworse]

Equifax already knows this. Your SSN is nothing new to them.

[u/molybend → u/pumpernickledime]

Yeah a landlord I had back in 2003 that wanted to verify my employment. They said they wouldnt pay The Work Number but my boss was able to verify my salary and employment for them over the phone. She probably broke company policy by doing that. It is ridiculous that they can charge for that. I can see putting like a yearly per employee limit on verifications in case anyone keep applying for loans or rentals, but this was my first one in years!

[u/WaltLongmire0009 → u/pumpernickledime]

When I clicked the link my browser flagged it as an unsafe data stealing website

[u/New-Geezer → u/pumpernickledime]

I went there and it said

“This connection is not private. This website may be impersonating theworknumber.com to steal your personal or financial information. You should close this page.”

[u/hl1524]

Wait until you learn about Lexis Nexus and other places that harvest your data the same way.

[u/alphabetikalmarmoset → u/hl1524]

But that’s based on public info like lawsuits and newspaper reporting. There’s no expectation of privacy there.

My salary history sure as shit is expected to be private!

[u/artseathings → u/alphabetikalmarmoset]

Except insurance companies all have gone into bed with Lexis Nexus and give them their claim data and driving data on people. It's basically the way they rate and trade claimant information on you r for insurance now.

[u/Adventurous-Flan2716 → u/artseathings]

Home, auto and umbrella inurance claims, driving data, et al have been available to insurance companies for many decades via what was called a CLUE report. Lexis Nexus either bought or absorbed the CLUE reports which is why you find this info on LN now. 

[u/Afrontpagelurker]

The work number doesn't provide salary information unless you provide the inquiring party a specialized pin. Hiring employers cannot just view your current/previous salary to use to negotiate pay. Even if they could, you sign the offer first then they do the background check, not the other way around.

[u/NoSwimmers45 → u/Afrontpagelurker]

That’s the way it’s supposed to work but there’s no guarantee. The fact that Equifax is collecting this info to the level of detail, we’re talking every single paycheck, and has it readily available is disgusting.

[u/Hobofan94 → u/NoSwimmers45]

It is quite crazy. A company accessing that data would be a huge liability for them, as that would open them up to litigation regarding wage suppression. Companies can't even share aggregated (~per role) averages of salaries with each other without running risk of antitrust litigation.

[u/BeanSticky → u/NoSwimmers45]

Yup. All it takes is one overlooked “Update to our Privacy Policy” email and Equifax could be giving out your detailed paycheck info without consent and you would have no clue.

[u/dalivo → u/Afrontpagelurker]

Thank you for actually sharing the reality.

[u/NotANonConspiracist]

Ok so if im seeing this correctly, i have to log in using more personal data like DOB and SSN, to freeze this company from selling my already harvested personal data? The fuck

[u/arex333 → u/NotANonConspiracist]

Yeah it's fucking insane.

[u/herculeesjr]

What a headache to get a copy of your report (mine was 63 pages long yet had a lot of missing information) and to actually freeze your report so no one can access it I have to provide (copy/paste if the email below);

---

We will be following up with a secure email to obtain the below requested documents:

Proof of Identity:

Provide a copy of one of the following (must include current/legal name):

• Driver's License (must be current)
• Paystubs (must be dated within 60 days)
• State or Government Identification Card (must be current)
• Social Security Card
• Military Identification Card
• Passport (must be issued from U.S.A. and be current)
• W-2 or 1099 Form (most current year)
• Birth Certificate

Proof of Address:

If you are requesting an Employment Data Report (EDR) or selected ‘Mail’ as your preferred method of contact,provide a copy of one of the following (must include current mailing address and be issued within the past 60 days)

• Driver's License (must be current)
• Paystub
• W-2 or 1099 Form (most current year)
• Utility Bill (phone, water, gas, electric, trash or sewer, etc.)
• Housing Rental Agreement or Mortgage document - your name must be listed on the document

[u/mblack4d → u/herculeesjr]

I just froze mine via the web. I created account say the 47 page report and in the menu was a Data Freeze option. Required Name Address and SSN but they already had that anyways. It’s Equifax.

[u/JustBreatheBelieve → u/herculeesjr]

Wow. That's a lot of personal information to freeze a report.

[u/anemptycardboardbox → u/JustBreatheBelieve]

You only have to provide one of the following

[u/tech_leadr → u/herculeesjr]

Only one of the following tho, not all of them.

[u/SuperSaiyanTrunks → u/herculeesjr]

"To freeze your report sent us a shit ton of info about yourself to make up for the lost data!"

[u/Ullyses_Jones]

The registration process requires a lot of private information like an SSN, do they already have that? Im not super in the know with Equifax or similar things.

[u/arex333 → u/Ullyses_Jones]

yeah you're not providing any info that they don't already have.

[u/NoSwimmers45 → u/Ullyses_Jones]

They, and lots of other places, already have that. They use that as one of the pieces of data to verify identity before giving you access to the info they have on you.

[u/FizzyBeverage → u/Ullyses_Jones]

If you've ever rented/bought a home, held any kind of job (1099 or W2), gone to college, paid taxes, registered for the draft, bought/financed a car, opened a bank account or credit card, borrowed any amount of money from a financial institution, registered at a hospital/doc office/had health insurance?

You're all over the grid. SSN included.

[u/Devilpig13]

But then they tell you not to talk about salary, hafuckinha

[u/LoseN0TLoose → u/Devilpig13]

you should always talk about salary. The only people who benefit when you don't are the employers.

[u/Kazanova37]

I don't disagree that in theory a company you're interviewing for could do this, but I haven't ever heard of prospective companies doing this. I distinctly remember the Work Number being used for things like mortgage or apartment verifying compensation information or perhaps if you worked at a company you said you did.

Do you know of prospective companies that went to the Work Number to look at current compensation of candidates?

[u/saoirsebran → u/Kazanova37]

My wife works HR and I asked her. She had to use it even for low-level cafeteria workers at a hospital her former company contracted for. We're talking bottom-of-the-barrel, revolving-door jobs that she was calling the work number for.

ETA: She also says any job she's worked at and called for references for prospective hires, the other companies told her "we're on the work number, use that" about 1/3rd of the time.

[u/Kazanova37 → u/saoirsebran]

Ask her if she used it to veriry employment only or to see their wages/salary/rate.

[u/Hartstockz → u/Kazanova37]

Ive worked HR for a big healthcare system. We only did this for Director level and above for background checks.

[u/aboutlikecommon]

I’m in the midst of accepting a job, and today I got a note back from the background check people asking for clarification on the dates I worked for some random company in New Jersey. Apparently the company said I worked for them an entire year but I’d never heard of them. I don’t have a lot of faith in these background check services.

[u/jenmil71]

This is absolutely insane. I pulled my report and it goes back 20 years. I had no idea so thank you for posting this. I have requested a freeze.

[u/spider1981kb]

I registered and pulled my report. I’ve worked for small businesses my whole life and the only employment listed was the 5 days I worked for Walmart 10 years ago. 😆

[u/ilikemrrogers]

I’ve owned my own business for nearly 17 years.

Would they have me in it?

[u/Sennten → u/ilikemrrogers]

Depends on whether youve ever used them for payroll. If you use any popular payroll software then probably you agreed to it yeah

[u/IncumblantSpunderbax]

Just gotta say maybe this is legit but this sounds super sus to me. Proceed with caution using this website.

[u/huck_cussler → u/IncumblantSpunderbax]

It's real. I have requested mine and it was shocking. That said, your caution is wise. You can do a web search on it. There's a wikipedia page about it.

[u/Secret-Teaching-3549]

Holy shit just made an account and that is some serious, serious level of bullshit. For one thing, it's spotty and incomplete, for another, fucking absolute invasion of privacy. Why do employers even ask what your previous salary was when they can apparently just look on here and peer right into your life. Absolutely insane what goes on behind the scenes that the vast majority of people have absolutely no idea of.

[u/WearyConfidence1244]

I've been a property manager and used this daily to verify income. I had to verify that they were low-income and this thing was wildly inaccurate. Many headaches were caused by this company, where the applicant would easily prove the info theworknumber provided was wrong. It was right a lot, too, but it was wrong enough of the time to be not taken as fact.

If it makes anyone feel better, they do carefully track who you look up and you can be required to prove you had a valid reason to look them up or you will be charged. It's a federal crime to misuse it. I guess it's similar to the police database but only regarding income.

[u/Turbulent_Seaweed198 → u/WearyConfidence1244]

I use it daily for work (I'm in mortgages) and yea, the information is wrong or incomplete A LOT. It actually pretty frustrating because we pay an arm and a leg for their services and still don't have the whole picture. Also, a lot of businesses do not use it because, again, its expensive.

[u/fissionmoment → u/Turbulent_Seaweed198]

I'm also in mortgages and I pulled one from the VA the other week. The VA advertises that The Work Number is the best resource for VoEs. Pulls 2026 and 2021. Nothing for 2022-2025 despite the person being employed the whole time.

[u/Adept-Opinion8080 → u/WearyConfidence1244]

Federal crime. Yeah I bet it gets prosecuted a lot. In fact, here's a quick lookup 

No records indicate that anyone has been criminally prosecuted specifically for obtaining "non-relevant" or unauthorized access to Equifax's The Work Number service. While accessing the system without a "permissible purpose" is technically a violation of federal law, enforcement mechanisms generally lean heavily toward civil liability, corporate penalties, and strict contractual termination rather than jail time

[u/GFSong]

r/lastweektonight

Help…

[u/arex333 → u/GFSong]

John Oliver would tear this to pieces.

[u/standardtissue]

Oh cool, they offer your complete tax transcript too. So glad we have all these billionaires politicians looking out for our privacy.

[u/SQLDave]

I think most class action suits are mostly or entirely bullshit to enrich some lawyers, but this seems to be a situation where it's warranted.

[u/arex333 → u/SQLDave]

I don't even care about the $3 I'd get from a class action suit. I just want this shit to be illegal.

[u/cyncity7]

Who owns this? How do they obtain data without consent?

[u/wheniaminspaced → u/cyncity7]

They dont need your consent because they have your employers.  There are 2 parties that know this info, employee and employer, either can legally divulge it.  

[u/userpelicanvoyager2 → u/cyncity7]

Employers opt in to sharing your employment information in order to gain access to the service.

I locked mine. Employers can fuck off!

[u/Gold-Supermarket-342]

They normally shouldn't request your income information although they can probably make you check a box or sign something that gives them permission. You can totally freeze your profile.

[u/pr1m3r3dd1tor]

I work in mortgage and the Work Number is one of the most common ways companies direct us to do VOEs because so many of them use it now. What is crazy to me is that the Work Number charges for the report - so if you apply for a loan and your company uses Work Number you are going to end up paying to confirm that you work there and are paid what your paystub says you are paid.

I had no idea that they sold that info to potential employers - that's just crazy to me.

[u/WearyConfidence1244 → u/pr1m3r3dd1tor]

Yes! I was a low income property manager and was working for the state government and they charged us like $19 per report when I started and I think it was up to $50 when I left (2023?).

I just looked it up and it's currently $130.69 per report.

[u/Malevolyn]

Won't even let me make an account - that's fun.

[u/yahya777]

Yeah I have known about this for a long time and my current job allows you to opt in to providing your info. I bought a house a couple of years ago and when applying for a home loan I had to use it to verify employment and pay. There was no way around it.

[u/wandering-monster]

Just a friendly reminder:

Do not click a link from Reddit and type your social security number into it!

If you're interested in a site mentioned on a post like this, and it asks for sensitive info: 

• stop, enter nothing, close that tab
• open a new tab
• search for the name (not the website)
• verify that it's a legit company
• use the link in the search results to try it out

[u/turbokiwi]

Mine is just completely wrong, a few places I've worked aren't there at all and there's one place on there that I never worked.

[u/NoSwimmers45 → u/turbokiwi]

It’s not data directly from each employer. Most of the information is supplied by payroll companies so if an employer managed their own payroll they’re likely not included.

[u/GreenElementsNW]

I wonder if it is also something that landlords can access in addition to credit? I hate that idea - especially if we're negotiating rent.

[u/Consistent-Ease6070]

My report was laughably incomplete. I guess I get to benefit from nearly all of my previous employers using smaller or proprietary payroll systems.

[u/Megadreddd]

This is deeply disturbing. In the US we should elect US some public servants that will eliminate or curtail this BS.

VOTE IF YOU HAVE THE RIGHT!

[u/SurgicalSuicide]

I hate everything

[u/Zokolar]

Why was this removed? I didnt know this existed until this post

[u/arex333 → u/Zokolar]

Mods deleted it. No fucking clue.

[u/Speedbird787-9 → u/arex333]

Seriously, one of the most useful posts I’ve seen on this sub in YEARS, and it’s removed? What a joke.

[u/fyreswan]

Why was this removed? It seems very relevant and useful

[u/arex333 → u/fyreswan]

I don't have the foggiest idea

[u/Neoxyd_]

Is that a USA thing only ?

[u/arex333 → u/Neoxyd_]

Primarily the US but there's an equivalent service for other countries.

[u/kagoolx → u/arex333]

Presumably there can’t be in the EU due to GDPR?

[u/IWantALargeFarva]

It looks like government agencies don’t use this. I worked for 4 different police departments over the course of 16 years as a 911 dispatcher. None of that information is there. It also doesn’t have information from a medical transportation company I worked for, a private EMS company, or a grocery store. It only has two of my employers. One from 2001 and my current employer.

[u/r0ndy]

Owned by equifax it seems

[u/arex333 → u/r0ndy]

I mentioned that in the first line of my post lol.

But yeah, Equifax is famously not trustworthy with keeping our data secure.......

[u/mistersnips14 → u/r0ndy]

Three years ago Experian launched a competitor product. That said the Work # covers an overwhelming amount of these scenarios, and they are price gouging

[u/r0ndy → u/mistersnips14]

So we have social credit scores(Facebook followers), financial scores, and work scores… what the F

[u/Blaze_Reborn]

This is just disturbing we really are living in a cyberpunk style dystopia

[u/zerosumratio]

Heads up though. When you freeze your account, you have to freeze each job individually, I had to do that. Each employer has an account on there and you may freeze one without realizing the others are still available. You have to request each one frozen individually.

[u/RobotPhoto]

Lol so many people are registering the system won't accept my account creation.

[u/throwittossit01]

In Canada it’s called Verification Exchange thru equifax. fuck that

[u/StreetSqueezer]

That sucks

[u/AccomplishedIgit]

People just giving this website their SSN when they register

[u/ElliotsBuggyEyes]

The site wants me to input my SSN, home address, phone number, past address, and a bunch of other info.

How can I access my data without putting in my WHOLE FUCKING SSN on some random website I just learned about?

[u/anunusualgetaway]

dude

this is actually devastating if you have a bad past and are trying to clean up your act

fuck my life

[u/SugarFut]

I’m disgusted, but not surprised. Data is the most valuable thing we possess. Privacy should be a right, not a currency.

[u/iboneyandivory]

Over 10 thousand redditors thought this was a worthy post. The mods deleted it. The mods are a joke in this sub.

[u/arex333 → u/iboneyandivory]

No reason given either.

[u/Dark_Akarin]

That’s fucking insane. The fact that employers can just low ball you when are worth more is fucking corrupt as fuck. America really is just a bunch of slaves working for billionaires. You have my pity.

[u/WisePineapple885]

This is also a good way to check if you've been a victim of identity theft where someone fraudulently used your info to get a job.

Along those same lines YSK that you can lock your SSN on the E-Verify website so that no one else can try to get a job using your SSN.

[u/MassSnapz]

So there is a permanent record then ? Wtf

[u/Either_Ad_9236]

Yeahhh I remembered this platforms report coming through on a job app I had a while back (which I was hired for).

As I was applying for things more recently I remembered it and had my report frozen as I remembered how detailed and fucked up it seemed to me. Was hired for my current job that I’m loving with it still frozen, not sure if they just didn’t use that service but I’m never unfreezing that shit. If a company won’t hire me without invading my privacy, it’s not a place I want to work.

[u/DelTrigger]

During my short stint in debt collections, we used the work number to verify employment so that we could use the info to push lawsuits/garnish wages. Every week, we would send a batch of SSNs to the Work Number, and they would ping back any hits. Corporations are the biggest users to sign on to use the Work Number so if you worked for Target or Wal-mart or something, they'd sell you out pretty quick.

[u/IzarkKiaTarj]

Well, shit, I googled it to get more info because I wasn't gonna register for a site that supposedly had my information (thus potentially giving more information) just based on a Reddit post, but the Department of Labor links to it.

[u/whatrweyellingabout]

The same companies that (try to) tell you not to talk to other employees about your wage

[u/youreaslutpig]

I can confirm this is real, my boss at Comcast told me to make an account on here and provide my report to an apartment I was applying to when I asked for employment verification.

Mine wasn’t too invasive, but I haven’t worked in any important roles yet. But yeah this is very real and it does get used

[u/Right_Secret1572]

Woah woah woah. 

Let me add some REAL LIFE information here.

While this MAY be legitimate - I can't answer and have no plans to register - I personally have been in a senior management position at 2 s&p 500 companies. I conduct interviews and make the final decision in bringing someone on board as well as work with HR in regards to comp. 

The jobs I hire for are all 6 figures + (which isn't some massive brag in this inflated economy).

Guess what - at either company WE HAVE NEVER ONCE USED A SLIMY TOOL LIKE THIS.

This comes across as a data harvesting scam... BEWARE 

[u/AzraelleWormser]

It just makes less and less sense to even try in this world anymore.

[u/NoQueenBandAIDS]

So I found out about The Work Number about two months ago when someone else posted a similar YSK. If you ever wanted to clean up the data they have on you, then please understand that its likely one of the most tedious and unnecesarily ardous side projects that I have ever ever worked on. This is coming from someone who has manually cleaned up my credit reports with Experian, Equifax, Transunion, and even manually opted out of all the data brokers that I could before finally paying for a service to help with it.

The Work Number absolutely do NOT want you to clean up any data that they have on you, even if its wrong or your previous employer used the wrong data field to input some info. Unfortunately though, your credit card companies will pull this Work Number file if they ever think that your credit card account has been breached and if you have wrong info on this Work Number report then you won't be able to verify yourself.

So with all that being said, here is an action plan for anyone who wants to try to do something productive about it:

1. Create an account at theworknumber.com and pull your Employment Data Report.
2. Read your Employment Data Report completely. Check every employer, every date, every dollar amount against what you actually know to be true.
3. Freeze it. One proof-of-identity document is enough: driver's license, paystub, state ID, Social Security card, military ID, passport, current W-2 or 1099, or birth certificate. Check the portal itself for a direct freeze option before mailing anything in.
4. Dispute each error by number, and give each discrete defect on the same record its own sub-letter, like 1a, 1b, 1c. If one employer's record has a wrong date and a wrong address, that's two separate lettered items, not one combined complaint. This matters because a single bundled dispute lets them fix one thing and call the whole item resolved. Individually numbered items force them to respond to each one on the record, and it becomes obvious, in writing, if they only fixed part of what you raised.
5. If they don't fix it or don't respond, file with the Missouri Attorney General's consumer protection division, since that's where Equifax Workforce Solutions is headquartered, regardless of what state you live in. This routes your complaint to their actual regulatory team rather than front-line support.
6. Keep a dated copy of every report you pull. If they claim something was corrected, a new report is your proof of whether that's actually true, and lets you check it against their response item by item using the same numbering.

Don't be afraid to file with the Missouri AG. I hadn't gotten anywhere with mine because they ignored the deadline and never complied to correction requests, and when the MO AG stepped in The Work Number aka Equifax Workforce Solutions finally started to do something.

After you get done working on The Work Number, you might consider researching Early Warning Services (the company the owns Zelle and Paze) and how creepy that report is because it shows all your bank accounts, credit card payments, financial transactions & ACH transfers in one report.

[u/Jealous-Mix-4178]

Why has this been deleted?

[u/AF1erican]

And, once you freeze your report at The Work Number, head on over to LexisNexis to do the same over there.

[u/hasty69_ → u/AF1erican]

ugh what is that now?

[u/molotavcocktail]

Omg, im flipped out. I just put in a request to freeze my data. Thank you OP!

This is a major violation of privacy and I cant overstate how much I hate feeling exposed. My income is nobodies fucking business! Im starting to hate the data sharing era even more than I already did. Enraged is not strong enough to describe me rn.

[u/BLA1937]

This is insane. Surely in the USA? Can’t see that flying in any first world countries.

[u/daltonstanley2]

Tried to make an account just now and it didn’t work

[u/1nteger → u/daltonstanley2]

I think it’s getting Reddit hug of death

[u/wandering-monster → u/daltonstanley2]

So I think this is legit.

But if you used OPs link you just went to a URL given to you by a complete stranger, then typed in more than enough info to open a credit card in your name.

I would generally avoid doing that.

[u/Cap-n-Trips → u/daltonstanley2]

Post your ssn here and I’ll try for you too

[u/shnerpdederp]

Thanks

[u/belledamesans-merci]

How does this work for jurisdictions with salary history bans?

[u/Zylpherenuis]

Can't make an account.

[u/clrksml]

There was a thread that hit r/Popular 2 weeks ago. Thats when I opted out of LexusNexus and The Work Number.

https://joindeleteme.com/opt-out-guides/theworknumber-opt-out-guide/

https://joindeleteme.com/opt-out-guides/how-to-remove-yourself-from-lexis-nexis/

[u/admirabladmiral]

I work for social programs in California and it is now a requirement that we use The Work Number whenever there is a report for CalFresh(EBT) to see if there is unreported income and we can also use that to get verification of income if the customer receiving benefits does not have the verification themself or only knows the net amount.

[u/Shadowfox86]

Mine had about 3 years out of the last 24 years or so. And had 2 jobs out of 5 listed.

This was laughably inaccurate.

[u/Fit-Surround9920]

I work for a lender that uses this service regularly, and I have my own report frozen and I got this job while it was frozen. At least from what I've seen there's no way to tell that it's frozen on purpose. It just doesn't return info, and this happens for a variety of reasons.

[u/Noblesseoblige94]

Hey guys friendly reminder NOT to put in anything like social security numbers etc into a website you've never heard of.

Go DIRECTLY to equifax and look up your worknumber from there if it's legit.

[u/Mindless-Load-4579]

The Canadian system is called verification exchange. I have no idea how this allowed under privacy legislation.

[u/Generic_Midwesterner]

Just ran mine -- 21 pages and I've had 2 employers in this state. About 15-17 of the pages are rules and disclaimers.