4 ms·

I want to try CreditKarma's free filing, but since its free, I'm the product, and i'm not sure what that means, when handing them all my tax info yet..

scrooched_moose 8y ago
Admittedly I was a little concerned by that, but since I already use them for credit monitoring I didn't feel like I was handing them all that much more information. Better to give them a little more info, than involve another company who may still use my info even after I pay them. I do like they're at least pretty transparent about their business model: https://help.creditkarma.com/hc/en-us/articles/202414090-Is-Credit-Karma-really-free- https://help.creditkarma.com/hc/en-us/articles/202414090-Is-... https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/010815/why-credit-karma-free-how-it-makes-money.asp https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/01081... https://www.moneyunder30.com/credit-karma https://www.moneyunder30.com/credit-karma
dentemple 8y ago
Mate, even when you do pay for services, you're still getting your data sold to third-party vendors. So you might as well utilize companies that provide an actually good product.
- Gaelan 8y ago
  Do the offline/desktop versions of TurboTax, etc do this? Not arguing, just surprised
  - jschwartzi 8y ago
    The IRS requires any tax filing software to get your permission to use your information for anything other than filing your taxes. In the case of TurboTax there's a contract they present at the beginning that authorizes them to use your information for marketing. If you decline the contract then you can still use their services and they're not able to sell your information on unless it's related to filing your taxes.
sinatra 8y ago
This statement, "If it's free, I'm the product" is becoming less and less relevant because, "Even if it's not free, I'm usually the product anyway" Think Comcast, Verizon, various Android phones, various modern TVs, etc.
- WhompingWindows 8y ago
  Okay, granted many companies do it, but you're still dodging the parent comment's issue about this specifically. WHY is it free, WHAT are they doing?
  - ip26 8y ago
    WHAT are they doing? I think his point is something like "Who knows, but you can be sure TurboTax is doing it too"
- zaidf 8y ago
  Also: Apple.
  - gleenn 8y ago
    Do you have any citations for that claim? Anything I can search for?
brigade 8y ago
At the very least, they can’t violate IRS §7216 without your explicit consent, which they ask for with the default sync to their parent company. And for now that isn’t required to use their filing.

scrooched_moose 8y ago

Admittedly I was a little concerned by that, but since I already use them for credit monitoring I didn't feel like I was handing them all that much more information. Better to give them a little more info, than involve another company who may still use my info even after I pay them. I do like they're at least pretty transparent about their business model: https://help.creditkarma.com/hc/en-us/articles/202414090-Is-Credit-Karma-really-free- https://help.creditkarma.com/hc/en-us/articles/202414090-Is-... https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/010815/why-credit-karma-free-how-it-makes-money.asp https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/01081... https://www.moneyunder30.com/credit-karma https://www.moneyunder30.com/credit-karma

dentemple 8y ago

Mate, even when you do pay for services, you're still getting your data sold to third-party vendors. So you might as well utilize companies that provide an actually good product.

Gaelan 8y ago
Do the offline/desktop versions of TurboTax, etc do this? Not arguing, just surprised
- jschwartzi 8y ago
  The IRS requires any tax filing software to get your permission to use your information for anything other than filing your taxes. In the case of TurboTax there's a contract they present at the beginning that authorizes them to use your information for marketing. If you decline the contract then you can still use their services and they're not able to sell your information on unless it's related to filing your taxes.

sinatra 8y ago

This statement, "If it's free, I'm the product" is becoming less and less relevant because, "Even if it's not free, I'm usually the product anyway" Think Comcast, Verizon, various Android phones, various modern TVs, etc.

WhompingWindows 8y ago
Okay, granted many companies do it, but you're still dodging the parent comment's issue about this specifically. WHY is it free, WHAT are they doing?
- ip26 8y ago
  WHAT are they doing? I think his point is something like "Who knows, but you can be sure TurboTax is doing it too"
zaidf 8y ago
Also: Apple.
- gleenn 8y ago
  Do you have any citations for that claim? Anything I can search for?

brigade 8y ago

At the very least, they can’t violate IRS §7216 without your explicit consent, which they ask for with the default sync to their parent company. And for now that isn’t required to use their filing.