The next time you’re purging your Facebook friends, you might want to consider each individual’s financial stability.
A paragraph found within a patent acquired by Facebook three years ago states that users could be denied a loan based on the credit-worthiness of their connections online:
“In a fourth embodiment of the invention, the service provider is a lender. When an individual applies for a loan, the lender examines the credit ratings of members of the individual’s social network who are connected to the individual through authorized nodes. If the average credit rating of these members is at least a minimum credit score, the lender continues to process the loan application. Otherwise, the loan application is rejected.”
The patent essentially stipulates that you could be denied a loan because your Facebook friends have defaulted on theirs. We already know Facebook is becoming increasingly intertwined with our personal lives, but damn, that’s a pretty major intrusion – especially since we’re completely unaware of this agreement’s implications.
So much for credit-worthiness based on a person’s credit history and how much debt they owe.
Just imagine: you and your sweetheart are set to take out your first mortgage on a dream home and all of a sudden the bank declines because lazy-ass Jeff from grade nine gym class is still sitting at home playing video games and not making his car loan payments.
They better start teaching kids the value, literally, of their Facebook friends in finance class.