ALERT SUMMARY
1. As reported by CNN, In September of 2017, Equifax announced a data breach that exposed the personal information of 147 million people. Fast forward two years and the Credit reporting agency Equifax has reached a deal to pay up to $700 million to state and federal regulators to settle probes stemming from the data breach that exposed the personal information of nearly 150 million people. It will be the largest settlement ever paid for a data breach. The Federal Trade Commission announced that Equifax will pay at least $300 million and as much as $425 million to compensate affected people with credit monitoring services. That money will go into a fund that will also reimburse people who purchased credit- or identity-monitoring services because of the 2017 data breach. The amount of the settlement could change depending on the number of claims still to be filed by consumers. Equifax will also pay $275 million in civil penalties and other compensation to 48 states, Washington, Puerto Rico and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
2. The deal also requires more changes to how Equifax handles private user data. For example, the company will have to adjust its information security protocols, including annual assessments of security risks and receiving the board's certification attesting that the company has complied with the FTC's order. The FTC alleges Equifax violated the agency's prohibition against unfair and deceptive practices. The FTC said Equifax failed to properly safeguard peoples' personal information despite claiming in its privacy policy that it implemented "reasonable physical, technical and procedural safeguards" to protect their data."Companies that profit from personal information have an extra responsibility to protect and secure that data," said FTC Chairman Joe Simons in a statement. "Equifax failed to take basic steps that may have prevented the breach."
3. Ideally, everyone affected by the Equifax breach will get a $125 payout for their trouble. If that sounds too good to be true, it might be. As the FTC wrote in a Wednesday consumer post, "the public response to the settlement has been overwhelming," so the pot of money available to victims grows smaller with each claim. The agency is thus recommending that people opt for 10 years of free credit monitoring instead of cash.
Additional Alert Information
The hack, the largest in US history, exposed sensitive information, including names, Social Security numbers, drivers' license numbers and addresses. Equifax first disclosed the hack in September 2017, three months after the company discovered the breach. Hackers leveraged a security flaw in a tool designed to build web applications to steal customer data. Equifax admitted it was aware of the security flaw a full two months before the company says hackers first accessed its data. The data breach prompted the resignation of CEO Richard Smith and investigations by federal regulators, multiple states attorneys general and the company faces a number of civil lawsuits.
Those affected by the Equifax hack are eligible for a $125 payout, possibly more. See our Member Action Plan how to file a settlement claim and get that data breach cash.
Benefits Available To You
If you were affected by the breach, you may be eligible for benefits.
1. Free Credit Monitoring or Cash Payment
You can get at least 4 years of free credit monitoring of your credit report at all three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion). On top of that, you can get up to 6 more years of free credit monitoring of your Equifax credit report. That’s a total of 10 years of free credit monitoring. (Minors affected by the breach are eligible for even more free credit monitoring.)
If you have credit monitoring that will continue for at least 6 months and you decide not to enroll in the free credit monitoring offered in the settlement, you may be eligible for a cash payment. The amount you’d get will depend on the number of claims filed.
2. Reimbursement for Your Time and Other Cash Payments
You may be eligible for reimbursement and cash payments up to $20,000 for:
time you spent protecting your identity or recovering from identity theft, up to 20 hours at $25 per hour money you spent protecting your identity or recovering from identity theft, like the cost of freezing or unfreezing your credit report or unauthorized charges to your accounts up to 25% of the cost of Equifax credit monitoring or identity protection products you bought between September 7, 2016 and September 7, 2017
3. Free Identity Restoration Services
You are eligible for free identity restoration services for at least 7 years that you can use if someone steals your identity or you experience fraud.
For step-by step instructions on how to detect and disable these dangerous Anonymous Chat Apps on your child’s phone, click our Tap the link below.
Next Steps - For additional details and Step-By Step Instructions on how to protect and respond to this Alert, follow the link below.
コメント