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Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

bloomberg.com

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Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

#81

Post by rhino369 »

criddell wrote: post #61
hedora wrote: post #17

I'd love to see the $70B number pan out (though $500 per person is less than the damages, I think) -- Equifax is a $17B company, and would presumably stop existing if that happened. On the other hand, these things always settle out of court, and Equifax certainly won't settle the suit for more than they're worth. I said it elsewhere, but I think the right response is to opt out of the class, and sue for $1000 in smal…

If they are out of business, they sell their assets which are office chairs, fax machines, and a giant database with information on everybody. Are you not worried about the sale of that data?

In a situation like this, if they get bankrupted, the company continues to operate. The ownership is just transferred to the creditors.

Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

#82

Post by hyperbovine »

thieving_magpie wrote: post #10
atom_enger wrote: post #3

The super fucked up part is that it automatically signs you up for their "Credit protection" if you use their site to see if you were impacted. Doesn't ask if you'd like to, just says "Thanks for signing up, your year starts now!"

Actually, since I'm affected, I got a different message. It's even worse. They gave me a date in September that I have to remember to come back and sign up for. It's the equivalent of grabbing a ticket in the deli line. Look at this text: "Please be sure to mark your calendar as you will not receive additional reminders. On or after your enrollment date, please return to faq.trustedidpremier.com and click the link to…

Same situation, same experience, same level of outrage. Sign me up for the class.

Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

#83

Post by creeble »

lepht wrote: post #72
cmiles74 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At this point they will tell you if your effected and then offer to enroll you in their complimentary "TrustedID" program. If you choose to enroll, that is when you waive your right to join any class action lawsuit.

This isn't true. Just by entering in your information to check if you're affected, you'll be enrolled automatically if you were indeed affected. Really scummy behavior.

This is not true. I checked, and it offered me the opportunity to sign up "on or after" a specific date. There is no automatic enrollment.

Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

#84

Post by Chaebixi »

redm wrote: post #5

I'm not excited about this class action; If they win, the individual payout will be almost nothing ($10?). The lawyers are the only ones who will really "make out" with 10's of millions in fees. There is also a disproportionate effect in that a small portion of the 143 million affected will have a large impact, i.e., "identity theft" while most will be unaffected. I think a fund setup to help those who are directly a…

> I'm not excited about this class action; If they win, the individual payout will be almost nothing ($10?). The lawyers are the only ones who will really "make out" with 10's of millions in fees.

Equifax needs to feel pain so they behave better in the future. Their executives need to be taught that they need to invest in security or it will affect their balance sheet. That will happen even if the payout to individuals is small, just as long as it costs Equifax a lot.

Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

#85

Post by zackmorris »

I'd like to know how much influence the consumer credit industry had in pushing through things like the Citizens United decision. Corporations love to be people when they can influence elections and make money off poor folks, but I wonder if they're ready to take the corporate death penalty when they break the law.

A bunch of class action lawsuits might make options like Move to Amend a lot more palatable to corporations facing that kind of scrutiny. It also gives political capital to organizations working to prevent rollbacks on consumer protections implemented after the Great Recession.

If Equifax's reputation hangs on a single hack, then they probably weren't that reputable to begin with. Why should we have to live under decisions that benefit them when they no longer exist, or weren't even who we thought they were?

Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

#86

Post by vthallam »

YCode wrote: post #12
eduren wrote: post #9

>In the complaint filed in Portland, Ore., federal court, users alleged Equifax was negligent in failing to protect consumer data, choosing to save money instead of spending on technical safeguards that could have stopped the attack. Doesn't "users" imply that we had a choice in the matter? As if we're Equifax's customers? I feel more like we're victims in this case.

One thing I'm not sure about is how this breaks down as to people who paid Equifax or signed up for some service through them compared with people who involuntarily had their credit tracked through Equifax.

I was wondering about this too. Like, I never signed up for them, but apparently their site says I might have been affected. CreditKarma or other credit score companies apparently share user data to these agencies.

Their announcement says social security, addresses and names have been stolen, this is really worse, this data is enough to do ton of things.

Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

#87

Post by Chaebixi »

java_script wrote: post #13
atom_enger wrote: post #3

The super fucked up part is that it automatically signs you up for their "Credit protection" if you use their site to see if you were impacted. Doesn't ask if you'd like to, just says "Thanks for signing up, your year starts now!"

From my reading of ToS it also apparently waives your right to be a part of a class action lawsuit against Equifax...

> From my reading of ToS it also apparently waives your right to be a part of a class action lawsuit against Equifax...

IIRC, there wasn't even a clickthrough and they framed it as "find out if you're affected." How could that be enforceable?

Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

#88

Post by joering2 »

jfindley wrote: post #64
ethanwillis wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can I actually do this? Cause if I can I'm totally doing this.

IANAL, but I think you'd find it virtually impossible to show $1000 of direct, material damages as a result of having your information leaked[0] and to the best of my knowledge this is the only sort of claim that small claims courts allow - I believe they do not allow punitive damages, nor theoretical ones. 0: Unless your info is actually used in a way that harms you, and you can prove that it was a result of this, b…

Many time the thiefs are actually caugh. If he she admits to stealing your data in this leak AND you are damaged, then here is your proof.
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