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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

#491

Post by stcredzero »

hello_newman wrote: post #141
stcredzero wrote: post #49

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. There's usually no enforcement of penalties in small claims court.

I don't know how many times you have been to Small Claims Courts but there are multiple ways to enforce penalties in Small Claims; a judgment from a judge, a till-tap, levy their wages, place a levy on their bank account, placing a sheriff in their area of business (for a fee) and will stay there until he's collected all the funds, submit to a collections agency etc. Don't speak on something if you don't know what yo…

levy their wages

Whose wages? If you win against Equifax, Equifax isn't getting a wage. Equifax is paying wages, but you didn't win a suit against its employees. You won against the corporation.

place a levy on their bank account

Seems like your best bet. However, this might be complicated, depending on how they've distributed their assets. Quick, can you tell me the name of the bank, the account number and the exact name on the account?

placing a sheriff in their area of business

Seems to me that Equifax might just keep draining your account through continued fees.

submit to a collections agency

I suspect this might be satisfying in its symbolism, but not necessarily effective against Equifax.

Don't speak on something if you don't know what you're talking about.

Seems like good advice.

Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

#492

Post by morganvachon »

kimsk112 wrote: post #418
SonicSoul wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

hmm i called the 3 mentioned here today and all were free. https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faq... Equifax — 1-800-349-9960 Experian — 1‑888‑397‑3742 TransUnion — 1-888-909-8872

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faq... said: "You'll need to supply your name, address, date of birth, Social Security number and other personal information. Fees vary based on where you live, but commonly range from $5 to $10." So depending on where you live, you probably have to pay.

Fuck that, Equifax should offer free freezing for anyone affected by their breach. Charging for it is profiting from their own negligence.

Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

#493

Post by ajoy »

mbillie1 wrote: post #384
rangersanger wrote: post #251

My hope is that this opens a larger discussion on the business practices of these credit bureaus, the kind of data they collect, and ultimately their harm to the public good. As far as I'm concerned, they stole my data first, then they packaged it up neatly and gave it to shady persons. Yes, I'm aware that I "consented" to their collection of my data when I signed up for a credit card, or a car loan, but it's not a s…

Nationalization of credit agencies - or even regulation governing exactly how credit scores are computed, and making that information transparent to the public - would be a huge step forward. Credit-determining algorithms are presently a black box to the public.

Is it not possible to write to our legislative representatives about this about how we think?

Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

#494

Post by SilasX »

kimsk112 wrote: post #418
SonicSoul wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

hmm i called the 3 mentioned here today and all were free. https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faq... Equifax — 1-800-349-9960 Experian — 1‑888‑397‑3742 TransUnion — 1-888-909-8872

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faq... said: "You'll need to supply your name, address, date of birth, Social Security number and other personal information. Fees vary based on where you live, but commonly range from $5 to $10." So depending on where you live, you probably have to pay.

So wait, you only need to provide the very same data that was just breached? So anyone can just freeze anyone else's credit now?

Edit: well, you have to pay with a credit card so it's traceable, so not that bad.

Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

#495

Post by alxndr »

morganvachon wrote: post #492
kimsk112 wrote: post #418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faq... said: "You'll need to supply your name, address, date of birth, Social Security number and other personal information. Fees vary based on where you live, but commonly range from $5 to $10." So depending on where you live, you probably have to pay.

Fuck that, Equifax should offer free freezing for anyone affected by their breach. Charging for it is profiting from their own negligence.

Would love to hear a lawyer's take on this.

Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

#496

Post by ScottBurson »

cletus wrote: post #340

Ok, so credit reporting agency collects sensitive personal and financial data on basically every adult American, loses it to a bunch of criminals and now I have to deal with the consequences? I looked into credit freezes yesterday. This is really a total scam. You have to _call_ each of the three agencies and pay a fee ($5 to $10) each time. If you need to unfreeze your report to make a legitimate credit application…

> So why can't I have a mobile app (or three) for free that allows me to easily lock and unlock my file or, better yet, to vet every inquiry and approve it or not?

Indeed. This is now no longer something that would be nice to have; it's the only way the system can possibly work. If a credit agency can no longer verify your identity by asking you questions about your history -- the criminals now have all that information -- there's going to have to be another way.

Sounds like a great YC application! Someone should do it!

Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

#497

Post by Nomentatus »

Credit card companies could provide other businesses such as Equifax distinct mere-reference numbers which the customer doesn't see and which can't be used for purchases - just to absolutely identify which card, for all parties. These could be added to the magnetic stripe or chip in the card, for example. (It might be gilding the Lilly, but many such reference numbers could be used for a given card, re privacy issues or otherwise. But then those numbers couldn't be usefully passed between companies for all purposes.)

There's no need for anyone but the customer and Credit Card company itself to retain the actual credit-obtaining-number (other than to allow future purchases with permission, which is the rarer case, often needs to be prevented not facilitated, and doesn't excuse Equifax having more than a reference number.)

Yet the credit card companies don't do this. Why not? 'Cause humans are idiots, all of us, that's why.

PS - run to the patent office and you might be able to make a ton of money patenting this, since patents are now given to whoever shows up at the patent office with the appropriate fees first. Precedence doesn't matter. You would be implying that you thought the idea up independently, of course, but you're smart, right? That's totally the sort of thing you could think of independently. Then when you're rich, you too can help choose what the patent laws look like, and whether rich people should pay taxes.

Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

#498

Post by iends »

SilasX wrote: post #494
kimsk112 wrote: post #418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faq... said: "You'll need to supply your name, address, date of birth, Social Security number and other personal information. Fees vary based on where you live, but commonly range from $5 to $10." So depending on where you live, you probably have to pay.

So wait, you only need to provide the very same data that was just breached? So anyone can just freeze anyone else's credit now? Edit: well, you have to pay with a credit card so it's traceable, so not that bad.

I'm sure paying with a stolen credit card is no problem for somebody willing to steal your identity in the first place...

Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack

#500

Post by joe_the_user »

subroutine wrote: post #479
joe_the_user wrote: post #426

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point is that charter revocation requires both the executive and judicial branch to agree. Moreover, I think I can guarantee that any vague sounding statement like "abuse, misuse or nonuse of its corporate powers, privileges or franchises." has been translated into a series of relatively specific conditions by the courts. You can't just sue someone for being vaguely terrible. Basically, however appalling the unac…

It doesn't seem like the executive and judicial branches will need to get involved whatsoever if there is a multibillion dollar lawsuit; if successful this will basically 'dissolve' Equifax.

Well, I wouldn't shed any tears over the dissolution of Equifax and other credit agencies - though a lawsuit would of course involve the judicial branch (the courts).

But the problem is:

A. If Equifax gets a judgment for close to or for more than the company is worth, the simplest way one could assure the suit is paid to sell the company, keeping the operation going rather than ending it.

B. Many businesses integrate credit checks into their operations - it's ridiculous and despicable as mentioned by other but most of these companies and individuals (landlord for example) at least imagine they couldn't survive without the credit agencies so this large group would push for another solution then just getting rid of the credit agencies.

C. Getting rid of one credit agencies leaves the other two even stronger.

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