Tuesday, May 17, 2005
BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING
Pursuant to the federal "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act" (PRWORA), the South Carolina Child Support Enforcement Division is developing a quarterly process which will match CSED records of parents who owe past-due support against the customer records of all financial institutions doing business in South Carolina. The information obtained through this data match will be used for locate purposes as well as to locate assets of parents who are delinquent in their child support payments.
In theory, this seems likes a good idea. But, in practice, it sure has some scary ramifications. What's to keep the financial institutions from using this information to their own advantage? And what happens if the financial institutions make a mistake and release inaccurate information which negatively impacts on someone's credit rating or employment advancement? If anyone has ever tried to correct an inaccurate Credit Report, they understand our concerns. There are already laws in place that require those who are in arrears for designated amounts to make payments through wage with-holding. And there are laws in place that require employers to report new hires. So, this is another case of not needing new laws if we would simply enforce the laws already in place.
Pursuant to the federal "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act" (PRWORA), the South Carolina Child Support Enforcement Division is developing a quarterly process which will match CSED records of parents who owe past-due support against the customer records of all financial institutions doing business in South Carolina. The information obtained through this data match will be used for locate purposes as well as to locate assets of parents who are delinquent in their child support payments.
In theory, this seems likes a good idea. But, in practice, it sure has some scary ramifications. What's to keep the financial institutions from using this information to their own advantage? And what happens if the financial institutions make a mistake and release inaccurate information which negatively impacts on someone's credit rating or employment advancement? If anyone has ever tried to correct an inaccurate Credit Report, they understand our concerns. There are already laws in place that require those who are in arrears for designated amounts to make payments through wage with-holding. And there are laws in place that require employers to report new hires. So, this is another case of not needing new laws if we would simply enforce the laws already in place.
