By Robin Postell
ATLANTA – Following a massive 2017 data breach of credit-reporting agency Equifax’s security system, which exposed the data of 56 percent of American adults, a settlement has been secured.
The breach was doubly infuriating for many since Equifax is one of the country’s three major credit reporting agencies and has hefty influence on an individual’s financial health and future, which affects their lives and those of their families – potentially in systemic and rippling ways that could feasibly impact generations. Equifax’ heavy-handedness determines whether someone obtains a mortgage and at what rate, acquire and maintain credit of any kind, get approved for a lease or hired for a job.
Yet Equifax, in turn, couldn’t even protect those same Americans when it came to their most sensitive private information from home addresses to other details which makes any person an easy target for hackers looking to steal money, identities, or worse.
This breach was due to Equifax’s inadequate security system which enabled hackers to compromise and create the the largest consumer data breach in history, exposing data including social security and credit cards numbers of just under half of the entire U.S. population, according to The Washington Post.
Yes, that’s right. Read it again. Almost half of every person in the U.S. had their most sensitive information exposed to criminal hackers who may or may not do whatever they like – sell it on the dark web, use it for their own devices, take a trip around the world on your dime…the possibilities are limitless.
So what’s it mean?
Georgia played a leading role in the investigation, which a coalition of 50 attorneys general, including 48 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Attorney General Chris Carr announced Monday that the settlement reached includes a consumer restitution fund up to $425 million, a $175 million payment to the states and injunctive relief, which also includes a significant financial commitment.
In kind, this is the largest data breach enforcement action in history.
Did you lose 10 hours of your life dealing with the 2017 Equifax data breach? You could get up to $250 from Equifax with minimal documentation of your woes, according to the credit-monitoring agency’s settlement agreement.
Under the agreement, The Washington Post reported on Monday, the more than 147 million victims of the breach are eligible to seek cash reimbursement and other services from Equifax that includes $500 for time spent taking preventive measures or dealing with identity theft and up to $20,000 for losses related to the breach such as those related to identity theft – and 25 percent of any money paid to Equifax for credit-monitoring or identity-protection products in the year before the breach.
Here’s a detail you need to keep in mind: the most an individual can receive is $20,000.
Okay, so what else? The settlement agreement says that after you have been identified as a victim of the data breach, you can “self-certify” that you spent up to 10 hours dealing with the aftermath, which requires providing an explanation of how your time was spent preventing misuse of your data or doing whatever steps necessary to repair any damage.
Hmm.
How easy all this will be is yet to be seen, but, if you think you’ve been affected, give it a shot while the “iron is hot.”
First, go to the website Equifaxbreachsettlement.com, set up to handle the claims. You’ll have to wait for the final approval of the settlement to become eligible for compensation. The site says you will be able to determine whether your information was compromised “soon.”
The settlement is being handled in the U.S. District Court in Atlanta.
“As I stated at the beginning of this investigation, our primary responsibility is to protect the consumers of Georgia, millions of whom, through no fault of their own, had their personal information compromised in this data breach,” Carr said in a news release. “I am pleased that our office played a significant role in this investigation, obtaining a fair and appropriate settlement, ensuring substantial consumer relief and requiring the implementation of robust security measures to protect against future exposure of consumers’ private data.”
According to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, this is the largest data breach because of “corporate greed,” citing corporate leaders forgoing security infrastructure to protect sensitive data in order to line their pockets instead, The Washington Post reported.
The Washington Post further reported that Equifax as also agreed to pay an added $100 million to settle a federal investigation at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency said Monday. Equifax will be under extra scrutiny now to ensure steps are taken to improve data security going forward.
Equifax chief executive Mark W. Begor said in a statement, “The consumer fund of up to $425 million that we are announcing today reinforces our commitment to putting consumers first and safeguarding their data – and reflects the seriousness with which we take this matter.”
To be clear, Equifax has denied any wrongdoing in the breach.
