A 60 Minutes II segment the show researched during last year’s Direct Marketing Association fall conference will "spark some debate" on consumer data use within the financial services industry, according to producer Harry Moses. The segment has not been scheduled, but Moses hazarded a guess that it might air in mid-March.
Among the five individuals either interviewed or scheduled to be interviewed, Vinod Gupta, chairman and CEO of infoUSA will represent the information vendor community. According to Gupta, a six-person crew from the CBS show visited infoUSA’s Omaha, NE headquarters last Monday and Tuesday, where they shot footage of the firm’s data entry processes.
InfoUSA allowed Scott Pelley, the on-site correspondent, to view his consumer information file, which includes his name, address, telephone number, the value of his home and the number of years he has lived there.
"His comment was, ‘I don’t want the public to know how much I paid for the house,’" Gupta said. "I told him, ‘You can see it in a Sunday paper at the time of the transaction.’ He didn’t argue with that."
But Pelley wasn’t finished with the issue. He asked whether Gupta felt people wanted to disclose how much they paid for their homes. "It’s a subject of conversation, and people really don’t care," Gupta told him. "Most people know approximately what a house it is worth, and they know what it is listed for."
The conversation then turned to financial institutions. "They wanted to learn what banks will ask us to do if they come with their name and address file," Gupta said. He described the various appending services the company offers and added, "We have 4 million customers. We have a lot of people that use our data so they can sell more."
When Pelley asked what sort of information should and should not be made public, Gupta responded that he would not want medical information or credit card purchase data to be disseminated without his written permission.
"But as for what we have, I have no problem with that," he said.
Moses, the segment’s producer, said that infoUSA alone agreed to speak to 60 Minutes II. But Don Girard, a spokesperson for Experian, said he spent half an hour with the crew on background covering a wide range of subjects during the DMA conference. The questions were all over the lot, Girard said, and he was not comfortable linking the 60 Minutes II crew with Experian executives until he had a clearer sense of the piece’s focus. Girard said he did not receive a follow-up call.
TransUnion spokesman Clark Walter said that the Chicago-based company had been contacted by the program for an interview during the conference, but that none of its executives were immediately available.
"We did not receive any additional requests for interviews after the conference," Walter said.
Gupta was not reticent about appearing on camera. "I think it’s stupid not to talk to the press. If we do not talk to them our views will never be made public," he said. "We have to give our opinions as to why we do things. If we don’t participate, then the other party gets to say their views, and we don’t get the chance."
In addition to Gupta, the 60 Minutes II crew also interviewed California state senator Jackie Spier and Mike Nevin, a San Mateo county supervisor. The program has booked time with Ed Mierzwinski, Consumer Program Director of US Public Interest Research Group and Phil Anderson, executive director of the Financial Services Coordinating Counsel, a coalition of four financial service trade associations.
"We couldn’t get a bank or telemarketing organization to talk to us," Moses said.
Nevin and Spier have sponsored local and statewide legislation calling for opt-in requirements on California data sharing.
Louis Mastria, director of public affairs for the DMA, recalled giving the 60 Minutes II crew access to the exhibit floor in October.
"I think the story out there is that opt-in is great, but the other side of the story is all the benefits opt-out presents to consumers," Mastria said.
"We did a study of opt-in in California. We think that kind of restrictive regime costs consumers and marketers alike." Mastria cited findings indicating that within the state consumers could expect an additional $1 billion in credit card interest payments, and that adjustable mortgage rates would increase by $750 million.
"If cities and counties pass these kinds of opt-in regimes, it’s going to create a huge problem in terms of gaining access to credit for consumers. There will not be any sort of standard credit applications or transfer procedures that we now take for granted when we apply for quick credit."
Spier, Mierzwinski, Anderson and Nevin were not available for comment at deadline.
