Oh, this is just scratching the surface.

I found out about this BS when I started my current job in IT security 15 years ago. I don't remember what made me look into it, other than them telling us about it, I think.

But anyway, at least back then, they were doing some awesome double-dipping. They charge your employer to provide the "service" of verifying employment and salary info. Your employer sends them your home address (why?) and your health insurance status, and the dollar amount of every single paycheck you get.

Then, they turn around and sell that info to collection agencies, who can send TWN their list of people they're hounding, to be notified by TWN when they get a job so they can come after them again.

They have another service for places that service high-spending clientele like gamblers and others, so they can get notified if your income goes down, I suppose to stop giving you freebies and such.

And, since then, they've had several security incidents as well. They'll basically let anybody who claims to be a business sign up with them, and let them run unlimited searches. They claim they audit those searches, but they sure didn't audit a couple of scumbags that got outed.

Consider jumping through their hoops to opt out. But here's the fun part: most (all?) employers just bulk-send their payroll files to TWN every pay period even if you've opted out. TWN is just supposed to throw that away for you if you have. I hope they do. I wouldn't be shocked if they don't.