Equifax Lobbied To Kill Rule Protecting Victims Of Data Breaches; Beware Of Asking For Their Help...

[Purveyor]

If you want to know if you were one of the 143 million people whose data was breached in a hack of Equifax’s data, the company has a website you can use to find out — but there appears to be a catch: To check, you have to agree to give up your legal right to sue the company for damages. The outrage that clause has now generated could complicate the company’s efforts — backed by Republican lawmakers — to block an imminent rule that would ban companies from forcing customers to agree to such provisions.

On Friday, social media users spotlighted fine print on Equifax’s website that appears to force users to agree to waive their class action rights if they use the company’s website to see if their personal data was exposed by the recent hack. It is precisely the kind of arbitration clause that a pending Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule is designed to outlaw — if Republicans and the Trump administration allow it to go into effect as scheduled later this month.

Federal documents reviewed by International Business Times show that in response to that 2016 rule, the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA) — which says it is “the trade association which represents Equifax” — pressed regulators to back off the proposed prohibitions, saying the regulations would subject data companies to tough penalties if during a class action suit they were found to have broken the law.

In one section of the letter, CDIA declares that federal regulators “should exempt from its arbitration rule class action claims against providers of credit monitoring products.” The letter asserted that allowing customers to sue companies “would not serve the public interest or the public good” because it could subject the companies to “extraordinary and draconian civil liability provisions” under current law. In another section of the letter, Equifax’s lobbying group says that a rule blocking companies from forcing their customers to waive class action rights would expose credit agencies “to unmanageable class action liability that could result in full disgorgement of revenues” if companies are found to have illegally harmed their customers.

more...

http://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/equifax-lobbied-kill-rule-protecting-victims-data-breaches-2587929

[Marie Marie]

1. This is good to know!

Nice catch and thank you for posting this Purveyor.

[SHRED]

2. I'm gonna freeze my credit

No need for loans then that would halt lines of credit being stolen.
Just freeze it.

[defacto7]

3. Disgorge away then!

[msongs]

4. corporate leeches use OUR data. they should be paying US nt

[SergeStorms]

5. I believe that's now been deleted.

I visited the site about 11:00 P.M. and there was no waiver of rights involved. I checked to see if my information was compromised (it wasn't so they say) but upon receiving that information they then want you to buy their "Premiere" credit protection plan. I'm guessing they're not selling many subscriptions, but I could be wrong. Checking on their website to see if your credit card number and your personal information were shared with thieves all over the world is generally not a confidence booster for their "protection" plan.

What a bunch of dumb asses.