It's a long story, but I have my security clearance. Well, no... It's expired now and there's no reason for me to maintain it. (The lack of reason is one of the key reasons you don't get one. It's very much a need to know kinda deal.)
So, the most invasive breach I've ever witnessed is that my information was a part of the OPM breach. Basically, some unknown entity (believed to be China) scooped up all the information for anyone and everyone who has applied for governmental security clearance in their lifetime.
I'll let that sink in, for those who don't know about it. Even if they didn't grant clearance, your information was still compromised.
What was compromised was all the data you gave them when you applied for clearance. That's information like the first time you saw panties to if your best friend from college smoked grass. That's not just your full life's experiences, but the experiences of every family member you have and every friend you can remember since grade school.
So, yeah... My credit is 'locked'. There are other ways to describe it but it basically means (and I have about an 800 credit score) your credit is locked - so when people go to pull a credit check the automated response is 'do not issue credit'. If I want to open a line of credit, I unlock my credit for a day or so, allowing the agencies to report my credit score and credit history.
(I gave more details this time around, to save Wiz some effort!)
Your country will probably have something similar with any credit reporting agencies that deal with your region of the globe. In the US, there's three of 'em to contend with - or you can hire a company to manage it.
I have like a zillion years of credit protection services due to the OPM attack and I've used none of it. It's pretty much useless for me. I have people who not only know my mother's maiden name, they know her first teacher in grade school. This is all 'cause I've needed to have a security clearance for reasons I can't really get into. Why I needed said clearance is not something you need to know! To be fair, the last data I dealt with should have been FOUO, but it is what it is.
