Steve Kroft from 60 Minutes finds out how accurate your credit report is

40 Million Mistakes: Is your credit report accurate?

1 out of 5 Americans has an error on their credit report. 

20 percent error rate?!

Whether we like it or not, we live in an age where much of what goes on in our daily lives is monitored, collected and sold to interested parties -- our driving records, our medical history, our Internet traffic and, most importantly, our credit information.

A mistake on your credit report can cost you money. It can increase the interest you pay on loans, prevent you from getting a mortgage or buying a car, landing a job or getting a security clearance. Its not uncommon. A new government study to be released tomorrow indicates as many as 40 million Americans have a mistake on their credit report. Twenty million have significant mistakes.

But now the reliability of the industry is being questioned in an 8-year Federal Trade Commission study to be released tomorrow. Jon Leibowitz is the chairman.

Jon Leibowitz: Here's what we found. Some pretty troubling information. One out of five Americans has an error on their credit report. And one out of 10 has an error on their credit report that might lower their credit score.

Steve Kroft: I'm trying to think of another industry where a 20 percent error rate would be acceptable. That's a pretty high error rate.

Jon Leibowitz: It's a pretty high error rate.

Mike DeWine: I think the more we look at this and the more the American people know about this, the madder they're going to get.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57567957/40-million-mistakes-is-your-credit-report-accurate/