NOTICE. TALX, the corporation that operates theworknumber.com has advised me that this post is inaccurate. Please read my post TALX Speaks! to see what TALX believes is inaccurate and to review the documents on which this post was based.
If your employer uses theworknumber.com for employment verifications, then the debt collector on the phone with you might very well know how much you are paid.
Talx, a subsidiary of Equifax, operates theworknumber.com website. It claims that over half of the Fortune 500 uses its services. Overall, it claims that almost a third of U.S. employees are in its database. When a prospective new employer, a government agency, a lender, or someone else wants to verify a person’s employment, Talx handles the request through its website, relieving the employer of having to handle the inquiry. Employees are given a special verification key. According to Talx’s website, a person requesting employment verification must have the verification key in order to have access to salary information.
This sounds perfectly fine, but it’s not the whole truth. In fact, Talx will sell your salary information to any debt collector who asks, whether they have your verification key or not. This page on their website promotes this service.
If you are an employee or an employer that is signed up for this Talx service and you weren’t told that salary information was going to be sold to third parties without the need for a verification key, we’d like to hear from you.