Today on MyMoneyLife with Chuck Bentley

Do you tweet or post information on FaceBook about your employment status, home foreclosures in your neighborhood, or other potentially sensitive information?

Well, SmartMoney.com is reporting that lenders are starting to look at social networking sites, especially FaceBook, Twitter, and Linkdin to get information about their customers.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. A company called RapLeaf.com is already providing lenders with data taken from customers’ FaceBook pages. It’s only a matter of time before more of these data scanning companies come on line.



2. So far, RapLeaf insists it’s only providing data for targeted marketing campaigns and that the information is not used to make lending decisions. But it’s anybody’s guess when information you post or tweet starts to affect your credit score.



3. Anything you post on the Internet is public information and there’s nothing illegal about lenders using it however they wish. Now, if a lender denies you a loan based on information taken from your FaceBook page, without disclosing the source, it could violate the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

The bottom line is you have to be very careful about what you post or tweet. To their credit, RapLeaf.com does allow consumers to opt out of its database. Just go to Crown.org and click on My Money Life. We’ll have the link for you, if you want to opt out.

And while you’re there, register for the free God Provides film tour coming to a city near you. This Thursday we’re in Atlanta, next Thursday we’ll be in Chattanooga. For details go to Crown.org/register.

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Other Resources:

• ABCs of Money Package
• Career Direct
• God's Principles for Operating a Business
• Business By the Book
• Crown Mvelopes