Information Access

In his Oct. 26 column, Robert Scheer states mergers between banks, insurance companies and stock brokerages could lead to all these companies knowing what movies I rent, what medical tests I’ve had and an intimate look at my credit history.

The problem is not others’ access to my private information. The real problem is me not getting access to my private information when I need it. If Scheer wants to worry about apocryphal stories, try all the horror stories of lost accounts, miscredited information and other headaches that came out of, say, the merger of two banks. Whenever two or more computer systems are merged, the problem is getting the information out, not keeping it in. Even without mergers, lost information can be frustrating and heartbreaking. Insurance companies that can’t find claims, banks that can’t find accounts, stock brokerage firms that misreport information to the IRS, credit reporting agencies that can’t get the information correct--these are the horrors.

LIN DANIEL

Northridge