TRW Now Offering $8 Credit Reports Online

One of the country’s largest credit bureaus has started allowing consumers to view their credit reports over the Internet, a move that some privacy advocates say increases the risk of personal information falling into the wrong hands.

Orange-based Experian Corp., formally known as TRW Information Systems & Services, began offering consumers online credit reports for $8 apiece this week.

Consumers connecting to Experian’s World Wide Web site can check what information is stored there about their loans, payment patterns, former addresses and other financial details--the same personal data people have long been able to request from credit bureaus via the mail.

Such reports are routinely consulted by lenders, landlords and automobile dealers to determine the credit-worthiness of potential customers.

To protect against unauthorized access, Experian’s service requires each person requesting his or her report from the site at https://www.experian.com to provide a Social Security number, one former address, a personal credit card number and other personal details. To deter eavesdropping, the information is electronically scrambled when it’s sent over the Internet.

But privacy advocates on Thursday voiced concern about the service--believed to be the first of its kind to appear on the Web--because they fear it is not secure enough.

“The potential for abuse is there,” said Beth Givens, project director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a nonprofit consumer group in San Diego. “It would be possible for a determined identity thief to get a lot of this information.”

Although no exact figures are available, federal law enforcement officials say such fraud is on the rise.

But some privacy and consumer groups applauded Experian’s initiative, saying computer access will make it easier for people to review financial data collected about them. The simplified access will encourage people to correct errors in their credit reports, the advocates said.

Experian rivals Equifax Inc. and Trans Union Corp. said they have not launched similar services because they said they do not want to risk a breach of privacy.

Experian said consumer demand influenced its decision to offer the service.