Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

bloomberg.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 670 posts

Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

#101

Post by [deleted] »

rayiner wrote: post #96
billh wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This class action will likely be settled in the same way the Ticketmaster case was settled ... with a coupon book good for 2 free credit reports.

Probably for good reason. $500 per class member is an insanely high damages estimate. 99.9% of people will suffer zero damages because their identities will not be stolen. Even the ones who do have their identities stolen will likely be made whole by the credit card companies. The real damages here are going to be to the banks and credit card companies that will have to absorb the costs of all the fraud. As to the Ti…

[deleted]

Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

#102

Post by DenisM »

kelvintran wrote: post #95
mlrtime wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could we create a service that automates most of the work required to sue in SCC?

Am an attorney. You could create a system that'd help you file SCC complaints quickly, but to have it detailed enough to pass the defendant lawyer's complaints about the deficiencies in your documents would be difficult. The size of that problem, however, decreases with the narrowness of the subject matter you want to cover/make claims about. If it were a 'Sue Equifax For The 2017 Data Breach' service, then it might…

It's small claims we're talking about, the defendant will not have a lawyer, right?

Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

#103

Post by pgnas »

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…

They should be driven out of business. Their #1 commodity, the only reason they exist and they don't spend the time or money to protect it?

Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

#104

Post by heartbreak »

jpambrun wrote: post #80
Chaebixi wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I said it elsewhere, but I think the right response is to opt out of the class, and sue for $1000 in small claims court. If ~15% of the class does this, they are out of business, and lawyers don't get a dime of the $1000. IANAL, but can't you only sue for actual damages not hypothetical damages? According to this [1] your identity with SSN is only worth $30 on the black market. To get $1000 out of them you'd probab…

Stress is a damage and mental health is valuable.

The tests for stress/mental health damages are very stringent.

Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

#105

Post by gknoy »

Chaebixi wrote: post #71
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…

> I said it elsewhere, but I think the right response is to opt out of the class, and sue for $1000 in small claims court. If ~15% of the class does this, they are out of business, and lawyers don't get a dime of the $1000. IANAL, but can't you only sue for actual damages not hypothetical damages? According to this [1] your identity with SSN is only worth $30 on the black market. To get $1000 out of them you'd probab…

The damage is not the cost of getting a new SSN, but the cost of verifying that your info is safe (still safe?). This is why companies routinely list the _cost_ of dealing with hacking incidents (scrub all the servers, pay people overtime, etc). I think it's fair to assign costs similarly for equifax.

Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

#106

Post by s73ver_ »

Chaebixi wrote: post #71
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…

> I said it elsewhere, but I think the right response is to opt out of the class, and sue for $1000 in small claims court. If ~15% of the class does this, they are out of business, and lawyers don't get a dime of the $1000. IANAL, but can't you only sue for actual damages not hypothetical damages? According to this [1] your identity with SSN is only worth $30 on the black market. To get $1000 out of them you'd probab…

Punitive damages.

Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

#107

Post by ddoolin »

stcredzero wrote: post #49
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…

I said it elsewhere, but I think the right response is to opt out of the class, and sue for $1000 in small claims court. There's usually no enforcement of penalties in small claims court.

Then what's the point of it?

Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

#108

Post by walshemj »

tajen wrote: post #99
billh wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This class action will likely be settled in the same way the Ticketmaster case was settled ... with a coupon book good for 2 free credit reports.

One scenario would be SSN being massively used by pirates, so companies would stop trusting SSN altogether. Let's hope a startup creates a "proof of identity" service with a photo ID with a chip, a code, and an online certificate for tax purpose.

ah lovely "papers please citizen" and what happen when friend computer with all this proof of identity gets hacked.

Maybe the USA needs everyone to have a new ssn and ban with very strict penalties is use by any one other than the state and then only for highly restricted usages as it is in the UK

Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

#109

Post by korzun »

nashashmi wrote: post #62
ovao wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why $1,000? And how would you prove damages equaling that amount?

You could prove how much it will cost to buy service that will protect your identity for a period of time.

> that will protect your identity for a period of time

For the rest of your life

Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

#110

Post by s73ver_ »

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 mean, as long as Equifax is hammered with damages, I'm happy.
Post reply on HN