Update #4
Snow-Capped is now Snowcap.Me, and we are forging a path ahead to an MVP since finding a workaround for the existing patent.
Snowcap.Me
Stage
README
Problem:
In just the last few years, Capital One, TJX Companies, Sears, The Home Deport, and Equifax have all been hacked, exposing hundreds of millions of consumer credit files to bad actors. New credit cards, loans, or other lending accounts could be opened with that information, unless you freeze your credit. Freezing your credit is one of the best ways you can protect yourself from identity theft and fraud. You can still use your cards and accounts normally when your credit is frozen, and if you need to apply for new account, you can unfreeze it.
Sadly, there is no central place to freeze all three of your credit reports at once.
The only way to fully freeze/unfreeze is to do it separately at each of the three credit bureaus. Protecting yourself from identity theft and unwanted credit inquiries should not so tedious, slow, and confusing. Snowcap.Me is working to make this better every day.
Mission:
The Snowcap.Me mission is to make the credit industry better for everyone, which means both consumers and businesses. Building the ability to freeze and unfreeze your credit empowers people with control in an industry that gives you little of it.
The Plan so far:
a. Launch site documenting Freeze/Unfreeze DIY steps.
b. MVP - 90%+ automated bureau onboarding, freezing/unfreezing, and status checks. No saving of user data.
c. Enable User Accounts (saving data).
d. B2B Product for Snowcap.Me users in credit applications
Roles Needed:
(all on an ongoing basis. If you'd like to get involved, reach out to Nick at hello@snowcap.me)
-Designer
-Developer
-Content Author/Writer
Re: Code for Philly Guidlines: www.Snowcap.Me will soon unfortunately be in violation of the non-profit project guidline in the code of conduct, so perhaps it would be best if this is the last update? Other guidelines we follow — We are certainly motivated by civic and/or social good and are publicly accessible. We will also always have some kind of free option available. We wouldn't be where we are today without the start we got from Code for Philly, and we will never forget our roots.
Project Activity
Update #3
Snow-Capped has been paused due to legal concerns. There is an existing US Patent #10,115,155 titled "Multi-bureau credit file freeze and unfreeze," which is held by some Experian (one of the credit bureaus) executives. After talking to many, many lawyers, I decided I don't want to be sued into oblivion and will not be pursuing Snow-Capped's "one-click" freeze/unfreeze at this time. I've sunset the www.snow-capped.com site and want to thank all of my users and everyone at code for philly who helped me along the way. I am toying with the idea of creating a nice step-by-step freeze/unfreeze walkthrough, hosted at a new domain, www.snowcap.me. Since it's just a walkthrough, the guide won't capture any user data or require an account. I'll be talking to people to determine whether this idea is worth building - let me know your opinion!
Update #2
Snow-Capped has it's first users, and as of last week they can login using Google. I figured Google does authentication and two-factor auth pretty well, so why reinvent the wheel? (Even if it's a pretty complicated wheel)
That A+ rating is just about impossible to maintain if your site uses any javascript.. so Snow-Capped is aiming for a B going forward, which is where Apple sets the bar, and is a better rating than Google, Microsoft, and even Vanguard.
I'm also happy to announce that I found a new partner in Kyle Rusak, who is a web dev expert.
Freeze your credit here: https://www.snow-capped.com/join/
Update #1
www.snow-capped.com is live and the registration form is built, but I would like to test just one happy-path user signup before officially opening up to people. So don't sign up just yet, but stay tuned!
All of the personal data that people will register with and transmit to the site is extremely sensitive, so the site was built with security in mind. I'm happy to share that after lots of research and configuration, snow-capped.com gets an A+ on Mozilla's Observatory security testing suite, which is a better grade that most Fortune 500 companies. See for yourself here: https://observatory.mozilla.org/analyze/www.snow-capped.com
