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    Report: Your Salary Data May Be For Sale

    By: Mark Memmott // January 30, 2013
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    If you've earned a paycheck in recent years, you'll probably want want to know about this:

    The Equifax credit reporting agency, NBC News reports, has collected 190 million employment and salary records on about one-third of U.S. adults and has sold some of the information "to debt collectors, financial service companies and other entities."

    Robert Mather, who runs a small employment background company named Pre-Employ.com, tells the network that "it's the biggest privacy breach in our time, and it's legal and no one knows it's going on. ... It's like a secret CIA."

    In an email to NBC News, Equifax says it complies with Fair Credit Reporting Act guidelines, that the companies buying the information "must have a permissible purpose" and that consumers give the companies the OK to get the data when they apply for credit. Presumably, the OK is in the fine print.

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    Arts & Culture

    NPR

    Cannes Film Festival Keeps Kenneth Turan Coming Back

    David Greene talks with Morning Edition film critic Kenneth Turan about some of the movies at this year's Cannes Film Festival in France. They include a standout from American director Alexander Payne called Nebraska. Turan first covered the movie festival 42 years ago.

    Food

    NPR

    In Raw Milk Case, Activists See Food Freedom On Trial

    Activists say the case against Wisconsin dairy farmer Vernon Hershberger is about raw milk — and much more. His supporters have turned the case into a rallying cry for personal food freedom and the rights of farmers and consumers to enter into private contracts without government intervention.

    Politics

    NPR

    IRS Official's Silence Riles House Committee Members

    On Wednesday, Lois Lerner, the IRS official overseeing the tax-exempt organizations office, refused to testify during a hearing on Capitol Hill, and was attacked by some Republicans on the House committee. Her brief appearance was the beginning of a five-hour session marked by angry outbursts and allegations of political motives.

    Technology

    NPR

    How That 'Nigerian Email Scam' Got Started

    You've probably seen it in your inbox before: Someone who claims to have come into a fortune needs your help. You can share in the profits — if you send along a deposit or your bank account number. Boston Globe correspondent Finn Brunton talks about the history of the "Nigerian prince" or "419" scam, which actually got its start long before email.

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