In a world of ever-increasing "data noise," that's true regardless of whether the cops are using the data.
A person who has a credit card for five years, even with a few missed payments, has better credit than a person who's never had a credit card. The latter is an unknown, and unknowns are risky.
A person who was let go from their last job last month has a stronger résumé than someone who's last job was five years ago.
A person who reads Hacker News for five years but never comments on anything lacks the downvote privileges that a person who comments heavily for a few months has.
