Consumer's Union petition to Equifax about data breach of 143 million people's sensitive information
More than 156,048 Consumers Union members signed on to urge Congress to hold Equifax accountable for the data breach that put nearly half of all U.S. adults in danger of identity theft. It’s clear this crisis has struck a chord with the American people.
This leak led to the exposure of up to 143 million people’s sensitive data — including social security numbers. Equifax now has a responsibility to consumers to address the problems resulting from this breach.
Sign our petition below calling on Equifax to help remediate the serious damage of this breach. We will be delivering your petition to Equifax leadership in the coming days.
Petition to Equifax
1. Pay for credit freezes. Offer free credit freezes to consumers for a longer period of time to mitigate the potential for identity theft.
2. Extend credit monitoring for affected consumers. Equifax is offering one free year of monitoring. They should bump that to an indefinite service for consumers who are at high risk of identity theft due to the breach.
3. Provide more detailed information about what happened. We need to know exactly what data was exposed and how, so that consumers can make informed choices about their next steps.
4. Remove all mandatory arbitration clauses. It's unacceptable for Equifax to try to insulate itself from class-action lawsuits during this crisis. The company should remove all mentions of forced arbitration from their terms and agreements.
5. Hire and train staff who can review and process customer complaints promptly. Given the volume of leaked data, many customers and consumers will be contacting Equifax with problems. The company should hire and train staff to process these inquiries more rapidly.
6. Set aside a fund to compensate consumers whose data was exposed. Equifax has an obligation to American consumers to compensate them for the injury they may incur for years to come.
7. Investigate allegations of insider trading. News reports indicate that senior Equifax executives sold major amounts of stock before telling the public about the breach. Equifax should immediately preserve all documents and commit to an independent investigation of the possibility of insider trading.
Add your name to this petition right now to call on Equifax to take the necessary steps above to protect consumers while ensuring accountability and transparency.
Once you’re done signing this petition, please forward this email to family, friends, and colleagues. We’ll be delivering all of the signatures to Equifax in the coming days and it’s important that the company’s leadership see that large numbers of people are calling on them to take these important steps.
Thanks for all you do.
Tim Marvin
Consumers Union, Policy and Action from Consumer Reports
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eta: http://consumersunion.org/research/cu-letter-to-equifax-ceo-on-steps-to-steps-to-address-consumer-harms-from-unprecedented-hack/
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