Equifax doesn't want consumers to get their $125 • Hacker News Board

Re: Equifax doesn't want consumers to get their $125

#171

Post by mlthoughts2018 » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 4:12 PM UTC

SuoDuanDao wrote: post #138

mlthoughts2018 wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The amount of people who will actually demand a lender to omit Equifax is also complete roundoff error and insignificant compared with political dealing etc.

That is a self-fulfilling prophecy with no utility to the people making it.

Whatever it is, it’s just a fact of human behavior, and to understand the world around us, we ought to be honest about such facts and investigate how best to live in a world where such facts are true.

For instance, it might suggest that championing a grassroots boycott effort is a waste of time, and that perhaps putting that effort to lobby for laws by which these types of privacy breaches result in automatic prison time or high personal fines is a better option? Also not likely to succeed, but perhaps much more likely than asking rando consumers to not defect in their personal prisoner’s dilemma game with an unmoving corporate behemoth.

Re: Equifax doesn't want consumers to get their $125

#172

Post by colejohnson66 » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 4:16 PM UTC

whamlastxmas wrote: post #147

argd678 wrote: post #104

It seems like companies only get the message when there’s jail time involved. None of the companies would freeze my credit since their web sites said some unspecified value couldn’t be verified for me, despite confirming my data was indeed lost. Pretty sure, like other regulations that include jail time, this wouldn’t have happened or their website to freeze my credit would have worked.

I also tried to freeze my credit and their website required me to put something in the mail. I did, including sending copies of various documents, and never got any response. I have the same issue with one of the credit reporting bureaus. They refuse to give me my legally required free credit report despite multiple attempts and mailings.

IANAL and I have not tried this, but have heard of it working: would sending a letter threatening a lawsuit get their attention?

Re: Equifax doesn't want consumers to get their $125

#173

Post by tracer4201 » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 4:17 PM UTC

ummonk wrote: post #9

tracer4201 wrote: post #5

Is Equifax actually liable or responsible for anything? No jail time or other penalties for executives. Okay so how are they held accountable?

Jail time for executives seems a little excessive for some employee merely failing to apply a security patch... On the other hand, this settlement shouldn't have been capped at such a ridiculously low amount.

If you’re collecting personal and financial data points on over a hundred million people and one employee makes a mistakes that results in this kind of leak, as a leader you should be charged with with gross negligence. Why were there no guard rails in place? Why is one employee a single point of failure?

Re: Equifax doesn't want consumers to get their $125

#174

Post by colejohnson66 » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 4:23 PM UTC

theferalrobot wrote: post #153

propogandist wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

CreditKarma is a data mining operation that should not be trusted with your data.

Source? What data would they mining? Isn't credit data already available to the public?

Ive never heard of this either. Yes, they use your data to offer you cards and they get a kickback for you signing up, but data mining?

Re: Equifax doesn't want consumers to get their $125

#175

Post by pfranz » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 4:25 PM UTC

harryh wrote: post #116

lvh wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mostly agreed. My understanding is the divvying up is not a govt entity, and the judge still has to approve the settlement, which isn’t a foregone conclusion, so it’s not entirely true that Equifax is out of the woods. Also, the reputational damage hits them even if they’re not the proximate actor here.

I, for one, think it's kind of unfair that equifax is being blamed for the contents of communications it had no hand in crafting. Especially when the major organizations like the NYTimes are so unclear in their headline writing about what is actually going on.

I guess we disagree both on that this article was misleading and that Equifax doesn't deserve the blame.

Equifax had a lot of say in how this settlement played out. My guess is their legal team is trying to reduce the number of cash claimants so they don't get the bad press when $.02 checks get mailed out--or there's some other benefit in adding more steps to this silly process. Their legal team is representing their interests. Drawing attention reduces the likelihood this happens in future settlements. Focusing it on Equifax makes the story way more clear.

Saying "Equifax Data Breach Settlement Administrator" (taken from equifaxbreachsettlement.com) instead of "Equifax settlement team" (used in the article) doesn't seem appreciably different.

Re: Equifax doesn't want consumers to get their $125

#176

Post by ta20938 » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 4:25 PM UTC

argd678 wrote: post #104

It seems like companies only get the message when there’s jail time involved. None of the companies would freeze my credit since their web sites said some unspecified value couldn’t be verified for me, despite confirming my data was indeed lost. Pretty sure, like other regulations that include jail time, this wouldn’t have happened or their website to freeze my credit would have worked.

I imagine arresting the Equifax Board of Directors, or similar, would have only have the effect of forcing security breaches back underground.

Re: Equifax doesn't want consumers to get their $125

#177

Post by MisterBastahrd » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 4:25 PM UTC

Equifax should have been flat out shut down and liquidated.

Re: Equifax doesn't want consumers to get their $125

#178

Post by Bhilai » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 4:29 PM UTC

ScoJoh wrote: post #131

Don't know if anyone posted this before, but if you scroll down to #25 here: https://www.equifaxbreachsettlement.com/faq You can send a letter to the Courts and let them know why you do or don't think this is a sufficient and decent settlement. Share it, let's get people writing in, because this lets Equifax keep really everything and in the end little real effect from their failure to take care of the information th…

> To be considered by the Court, your objection letter must be filed electronically with the Court by 11/19/2019

Do you know how to file the objection electronically ?

Re: Equifax doesn't want consumers to get their $125

#179

Post by cwkoss » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 4:32 PM UTC

paulcole wrote: post #49

cwkoss wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My lender always drops the lowest of the three scores, so I was able to just say "I'm going to keep looking at other lenders if you contact Equifax on my behalf. Can you agree to not use Equifax on this deal if I agree move forward today?" and it wasn't a problem. Some of the larger lenders may not have this flexibility.

What was your procedure for confirming they did anything but roll their eyes and go about their normal routine?

I kept Equifax frozen through the refinance

Re: Equifax doesn't want consumers to get their $125

#180

Post by boopk » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 4:32 PM UTC

auiya wrote: post #112

This whole process is a joke. I went and dug up my claim number, entered it into the site to amend, and the site just dies and doesn't allow me to proceed any further. If they had my contact info to begin with, just cut me a check and skip the shenanigans.

do you have a link? I can't find it. This same thing was happening to me when I first got the email