By Manny Otiko | California Black Media
(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK—ENN)—- On June 22, the Federal
Trade Commission (FTC) announced the outcome of a settlement with Equifax, one
of the three major credit monitoring firms in the United States.
The settlement requires
Equifax to pay somewhere between $500 and $700 million in restitution for a
2017 data breach that affected about 147 million people across the United
States, according to Jacqueline Connor, a privacy attorney with the FTC. The
amount of the settlement is the highest in U.S. history for a data breach and
the number of people impacted represents almost half the United States’
population. That’s nearly every adult in the country who has credit.
In California alone,
Hackers were able to access and expose the personal information of about 15
million people.
“Our credit status
impacts nearly every aspect of our lives – from purchasing a home or a car to
finding a job,” said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. “The
same Americans who had to immediately protect themselves
from fraudsters or identify thieves will have to be vigilant for the
rest of their lives. We encourage every eligible person to apply
for the relief they are entitled to as part of our settlement.”
About $300 million of the
settlement amount will go to making payments to Americans affected by the
breach. Equifax will pay another $275 million in fines to close the
investigation by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and to end legal
action by states who filed lawsuits against the company.
The hackers, who have not
yet been identified, penetrated Equifax’s data files and were able to steal
social security numbers, credit card numbers, addresses and other personal
data. The breach affected all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S.
territories.
To compensate victims,
Equifax has set up a website (EquifaxBreachSettlement.com) where you can
first check to
see if you were affected
by the breach. Then, you can apply for a check payment of “up to” $125, or you
can choose free credit monitoring with all three major credit bureaus for up to
four years, a value of a little over $950. When that period is over, you can
choose to opt in for free credit monitoring by Equifax for another six
years.
Because “millions of
people” affected have filed claims for the $125 payment option since the
settlement announcement, the FTC, which is responsible for consumer protection
across the country, says applying for a cash payment is not the best way to go.
So, as an alternative, Equifax is primarily now offering free credit monitoring
to its customers affected by the data breach. If you’re already signed up for a
free credit monitoring service and intend to keep it for the next six months,
then you can apply for the $125 payment.
“The pot of money that
pays for that part of the settlement is $31 million,” the FTC said in a
statement. “A large number of claims for cash instead of credit monitoring
means only one thing: Each person who takes the money option will wind up only
getting a small amount of money. Nowhere near the $125 they could have gotten
if there hadn’t been such an enormous number of claims filed.”
For Equifax to have paid
out the full $125 to each person affected, a number of no more than 248,000
people would have needed to apply. If all 147 million people end up
filing a claim, individual payouts would shrivel down to around .22 cents per
person.
The cost for Equifax’s
credit monitoring service is $19.99 a month, according to the company’s
website. If every victim of the breach signs up, it could cost Equifax up to $2
billion to cover the costs.
Victims of identity theft
or other fraud resulting directly from the breach who have documentation to
back up their claim, will receive compensation of $25 an hour (for up to 20
hours) of the time they took to resolve the problem. They will be eligible for
up to another 10 hours of $25-an-hour payments for the time they took to
research or purchase protection services, including freezing their credit,
after the fraud happened.
Those who incurred legal
expenses or spent money on credit monitoring, notaries and other approved fines
as a result of the hack, are eligible for up to $20,000 per person in
reimbursements. They will also be required to show proof that their claims are
valid.
The deadline to file all
claims is Jan. 22, 2020.
For people who have
already requested a $125 payment and would now like to opt for free credit
monitoring instead, look out for an email from Equifax. The company will allow
you to change your choice.
Some consumer advocates
and legislators around the country say the settlement didn’t go far
enough.
“Equifax’s data
breach put over 100 million Americans at risk by exposing their Social Security
numbers and other personal information,” said Rep. Frank Pallone (D-New
Jersey), chair of the House Energy and Commerce committee, in a press release.
“This settlement does not come close to making consumers whole and, once
again, shows the limitations on the FTC’s ability to seek strong penalties and
effective redress for consumers.”
News of data breaches of
financial institutions and credit monitoring agencies is becoming an
increasingly common occurrence.
Paige Thompson, a
Seattle-based hacker, was arrested by the FBI last Monday after she bragged on
social media about hacking Capital One and leaking 100 million consumers’
data.
Thompson,
who previously worked for Amazon Web Services, bragged about her hacking
exploits on Twitter under the username “Erratic.”
Westside Story Newspaper – Online The News of The Empire – Sharing the Quest for Excellence
