For Some Users, A Bright Side to Data Leaks
“Might as well,” said Dana Smith after receiving another letter about a data leak from a website she doesn’t remember signing up for.
“The nerve of an online company to send a letter. A letter! In the mail? They don’t want people to know.”
Smith is referring to the practice of signing up for extended free trials of credit monitoring services offered by companies after they experience data breaches.
“The cheap companies only offer three months. If the hack is real, real bad —you can get up to a year,” said Smith as she extended her current services.
To date, Smith has signed up for seven free trials across the major credit reporting bureaus, totaling about four years of free monitoring.
Last year, over 5 million American account holders had their information make it onto the dark web.
Smith remains unfazed, “the truth is I’d never checked my credit report before, so it’s kinda crazy to think that hackers are helping me improve my credit score.”
When asked what measures she has taken to protect her data, Smith simply mentioned she had a system and it involved her birthday and post-it notes.
“The worst part of this is the admin,” she said logging into her bank account on unprotected wifi, “gotta remember to cancel the free trials or they’ll get you.”
