<prompt> Human: Increasingly when I needed to have a bank card replaced or talk to them on phone for some reason, my banks began to verify my identity with unnecessary detail, even after I put in social and pin into their automated system. Their questions sounded like the ones I need to answer when requesting a credit report. You know, which street did you once live on, which car have you once owned, etc. I imagine it would not be a big leap for them to read from a credit reporting agency screen, type in answers you give them for your verification check and gain access your score and tailor any offers to you based on their nefarious info grab. If they already have these answers, how did they get them, and can they access your credit score without permission this way? I have always refused to answer those questions to any institution, requiring me to hold for a supervisor who after hearing me growl about how recent deposit, social security, account number and PIN should be enough, inevitably agree. But this bullshit takes time. Only once have I had an asshole employee insist I would not be allowed to take 5K of my own money unless I answered those questions, even after I had personally visited the bank to initiate the transaction. I refused. Anyone ever experience this? Are we giving them too much? Am I paranoid by putting my foot down here, or should we all be doing this more?  <response>: Everyone should be paranoid about surrendering personal data. Most people dont think twice about it. It is said that for all the quacking and complaining about privacy issues we hear, if McDonalds were giving out free burgers in return for DNA samples, thered be a line around the block. 