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Over 275 days since Equifax’s data breach settlement and no one has been paid
- 0xy 7y agoThe lawyers haven't finished looting the cash. Does anyone even care about the token amount of cash they're likely to receive?
- gouggoug 7y agoIt's not about the insignificant amount of money everyone will get out of it; it's about equifax being severely punished and fined, even though that settlement won't really change anything.
- nickff 7y agoIt seems like this is 'really about' a bunch of lawyers getting paid.
- 0xy 7y agoYou just described every class action lawsuit.
- whiskeykilo 7y agoExactly. Most people didn't even get picked for payment. I don't want a shitty monitoring service I want to see Equifax bleed
- chrisseaton 7y ago> I want to see Equifax bleed This seems vindictive. Their behaviour should be corrected and other people deterred. We shouldn't be calling for blood!
- ggggtez 7y agoDon't worry, it's only metaphorical blood. Equifax is just a concept, and can't be physically hurt.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- miked85 7y agoDo you think that Equifax provides the general public with a useful service?
- chrisseaton 7y agoI do. They allow people who are lending money or extending credit to know what kind of risk they are likely taking on. They also let you know how risky you appear to be when you ask someone for a loan or credit. This allows people to reduce their risk, and it allows people to understand and manage the risk that they present.
- mindslight 7y agoEach party to a transaction has a different perspective. Speaking about the benefits to one party while ignoring the harm to others is nonsensical. Comprehensive surveillance databases obviously benefit lenders, or they wouldn't pay to create them. But general society is harmed by creating surveillance records that would make even the most staunch Stasi agent blush.
- chrisseaton 7y ago> Speaking about the benefits to one party while ignoring the harm to others is nonsensical. But I did mention both parties. When I want credit it lets me understand my own risk profile and to manage it: > They also let you know how risky you appear to be when you ask someone for a loan or credit. > But general society is harmed by creating surveillance records that would make even the most staunch Stasi agent blush. I think bad lending and borrowing is a major risk to society.
- ryneandal 7y agoHow are the lawyers the bad guys in this data breach issue? Equifax, its what's for dinner.
- hwc 7y agoI want to sue the credit agencies for stalking me.
- dylan604 7y agoWould you need to first file a retraining order, or can you just jump straight into litigation?
- loeg 7y agoIn America, you can always jump straight to litigation. It doesn't mean you'll win, and Equifax almost certainly has deeper pockets than you do.
- lotsofpulp 7y agoThe deeper pockets wouldn’t be the problem. You give permission to financial institutions to share your data with the credit reporting bureaus, so good luck fighting that in court.
- dylan604 7y agoDo you really give permission/consent, or just accept the fact that you have no choice in the matter. A guy puts a gun in your face and says give me your wallet. You're not giving him permission to take your belongings. You're just doing what you have to do. Yes, I am equating the terms modern financial systems use as a gun in my face.
- basch 7y agoThe data has never surfaced. I have to wonder if anybody who claims they had direct identity theft because of the breach automatically loses their claim. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/13/equifax-mystery-where-is-the-data.html https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/13/equifax-mystery-where-is-the... It's interesting that most coverage of the incident ignores that detail. I guess people really dont like to hear it because it doesnt fit their narrative. Whatever this interest.com article is, it has very little value. It reads like seo spam. It doesn't discuss any of the developments in the last three weeks, such as Chicago, Indiana, Massachusetts all working out settlements.
- MattGaiser 7y agoI'm surprised to just be learning that it was probably a governmental cyberattack.
- basch 7y agoLike I said, it doesn't fit the narrative of "data collectors = bad", it doesn't create the right emotional response, it doesnt help people hate equifax more, so it gets suppressed and immediately downvoted, on any forum. Equifax can both be negligent and immoral AND not have caused any systemic identify thefts (that we know of, yet) from the event. I do think "a foreign government got the data on me" drastically shifts what the future threat from the exposure is, which should also change the settlement that was made under the pretense of them leaking data to traditional identity thieves or a black market.
- martey 7y ago> Like I said, it doesn't fit the narrative of "data collectors = bad", it doesn't create the right emotional response, it doesnt help people hate equifax more, so it gets suppressed and immediately downvoted, on any forum. Have you considered that this might be caused by blind spots in your own news consumption? For example, you previously linked to an article from 2019 that suggest the breach might have been a governmental attack, but you seem to have ignored the fact that 4 PLA members were indicted in February. There was widespread news coverage about this, including multiple submissions on this very forum. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22289826 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22289826 does not look like it was "suppressed and immediately downvoted".
- rhacker 7y agoI think I would have preferred the company be removed of their ability to collect credit information than any other penalty.
- Andrex 7y agoI suppose "the company be dissolved, its records thoroughly purged, and its ability to legally operate revoked" is a bit too much... though it shouldn't be.
- pmiller2 7y agoWhy is it a bit much? I think the "corporate death penalty" is appropriate when you fail to protect the financial history of 147 million people.
- redis_mlc 7y agoThat was done for one of the US accounting companies, Arthur Andersen, related to Enron financials. Noody, including the govt., was happy with the final result. So although it should be on the table, in reality, it probably won't come from the govt. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Andersen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Andersen
- pmiller2 7y agoHow could the result have been any different or better? I don't see where anyone's claiming the government was unhappy with the final result. Rotten firms like this need to die.
- Traster 7y agoThe thing is that when the reasonable solution is "Stop the company doing its core competency" you need to realise that almost everything else the company does is going to be "exploit whatever it has left". So forcibly shutting down the company is far more reasonable than just stopping it from collecting credit information.
- stevespang 7y agoYou damn well bet the the lawyers got their money UPFRONT and first in line already. They always do.
- nmstoker 7y agoWhy is the company that had the breach managing the payments? Surely it should be neutral third party who then just passes on the final bill.
- WhyNotHugo 6y agoYeah, I'm pretty sure that neutral party should be the court. If I get a fine, I'm sure I can't just wait a few years to pay it with no big deal behind that.
- paulgb 7y agoIf I remember the settlement details, something like 75 million was for legal fees. I bet they've been paid.
- markus_zhang 7y agoNo idea why but I always feel any company dealing with blackbox credit rules are very fishy...wish there is a way to remove them away from the financial system.
- 317070 7y agoEDITED: the below is wrong (as stated by a child comment). There is a diversity of systems in Europe. OLD COMMENT: Here's the thing, as far as I know, Europe does not have those companies. So it definitely should be possible to do without them...
- npstr 7y agoThat is not true. It is almost impossible to rent a flat in the larger cities of Germany without showing a positive credit record to the landlords. And requesting even small credits of a few k will have your credit rating checked and recorded that such a check happened.
- 317070 7y agoYou are correct, I was unaware of the German case! In fact, it seems that many European countries do have a credit score system. Some do have other systems: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_score#Germany https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_score#Germany Here are some countries within Europe who do not have a credit score system: - Belgium has no centralised credit score system. However, banks can ask the Belgian counterpart of the FED for all loans held in your name when you request a new loan. The national bank keeps a register of all loans. - United Kingdom: There is no such thing as a universal credit score or credit rating in the UK. Each lender will assess potential borrowers on their own criteria, and these algorithms are effectively trade secrets.
- tmhrtly 7y agoAs a Brit, I feel I should point out we definitely do have credit ratings. The three main ratings agencies are Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.
- cft 7y agoCall me cynical, but when I read the news of the breach I went and bought EFX call options for 3 months. Because even though I am not sure whether the "deep state" exists or it's a conspiracy theory, I was somehow confident that I was making a good investment. It has paid off handsomely indeed.
- DSingularity 7y agoI don’t get the connection?
- meesles 7y agoI think GP is implying that you can trust to invest in institutions like Equifax because they are propped up by the government and 'too big to fail'. Not sure I agree, but then again, there's the proof.
- saagarjha 7y agoEquifax has done well despite the breach.
- icedchai 7y agoHe made more with those call options than anyone will ever get from the breach settlement. I bought stock in one of their competitors (TRU) which was also down around the same time. Even with all the craziness in the markets, it's still up close to 80% in a little over 2.5 years.
- echelon 7y agoWhen you buy calls but don't have the capital to exercise those calls, do brokerage services lend you the money to collect on the gains assuming your call is in the black? I have a pretty good stock portfolio, but I haven't dipped my toes into the call/put, futures, derivatives, "iron condors", etc. world yet.
- cft 7y agoIn that case you simply sell the call, instead of exercising (assigning) it. I switched to selling puts instead since then.
- zaidf 7y agoIf only the media cared as much about ppl’s super critical data being exposed as it cares about the privacy of my Facebook Likes.
- dylan604 7y agoBut does the media even care about that? Or was that the point you were trying to make?
- drjesusphd 7y ago"But do the media..." Media is a plural noun. To use it incorrectly this way gives credence to conspiratorial thinking about the press.
- dylan604 7y agoShades of gr[ea]y my friend. If you think of the media as each broadcaster/publisher it might be plural, but in the conspiratorial sense of things the "media" is just the propaganda arm of "them". That makes it a singular thing. QED
- hnick 7y agoDepends where you live really. Some places say "the band is performing" and treat it as a singular, others say "the band are performing" and treat it as a collection of individuals. I think the latter is more of a UK thing.
- g051051 7y agoFrom the settlement web site: "The Court gave final approval to the Settlement and overruled all objections on January 13, 2020. However, some of those that objected to the Settlement have now appealed the Court’s decision to approve the Settlement. By order of the Court, the Settlement cannot become final until all appeals are resolved and there is currently no timeline for the resolution of these appeals. When the appellate court enters a schedule for the appeal, we will update this website to provide individuals with more guidance as to the timing of a decision. Please check back for further updates."
- alteria 7y agoiirc, other than writing the Court a letter, this was the other major way to indicate your displeasure towards the settlement
- yalogin 7y agoCome on now that is not quite true. Some politicians got paid to make this thing go away with a legislation.
- sunsetMurk 7y agowhere can I find a good summary/timeline of events of this whole Equifax breach? EDIT: googled, reading this[1] now. 1- https://www.csoonline.com/article/3444488/equifax-data-breach-faq-what-happened-who-was-affected-what-was-the-impact.html https://www.csoonline.com/article/3444488/equifax-data-breac...
- victorkab 7y agoIt’s really a loss for consumers across the United States. The reality is that a large part of the fintech sector still depends on the data provided by Equifax. Their data is also used for KYC and other security use cases. We have started Truework (https://www.truework.com https://www.truework.com) to break that dependency and give consumers control of their data. If you’re interested to help us, please contact me by email.
- vageli 7y ago> It’s really a loss for consumers across the United States. > The reality is that a large part of the fintech sector still depends on the data provided by Equifax. Their data is also used for KYC and other security use cases. > We have started Truework (https://www.truework.com https://www.truework.com) to break that dependency and give consumers control of their data. If you’re interested to help us, please contact me by email. I would be curious to know more about how you give consumers control over their data. I took a look at your link but it is not clear to me.
- victorkab 7y agoHey Vageli, Thanks for your question. I wish our website was clearer :), but we’re working on that! When Truework gets a request for data on you from a third-party we send you a notification to know whether or not you want to share your data with that third-party. If you refuse, we will not share that data. It’s different from the current model that our competitors use, which is to just share right away.
- jagged-chisel 7y agoOnce the 3rd party has a copy of the data, now they can freely share it with their 'partners and associated companies.' You're helping me, yes. But you're friction for a bank and I don't know how you could possibly stay in business for the long term in that position.
- vageli 7y ago
- gumby 7y agoI doubt that headline is really correct: likely the lawyers have some cash to show for their efforts. Who cares about the actual claimants?
- willart4food 7y agoHave the lawyers been paid?
- A4ET8a8uTh0 7y agoI was hoping that such an egregious case would merit at least an enforced slap on the wrist. I guess even the talk of insider trading did not change that outcome. This, along with other recent events, suggests that justice system is tiered. This does not bode well for the future of the republic.
- sacman08 7y agoIn a surprise to no one...
- acklenx 7y agoI can't get my [knowledge-based authentication] data back. I don't want their measly $125 from them (it will cost me far more time and money when this breach is used against me). I want them to pay the cost for the government to replace the SSN as an identifier. And to pay for the government give me a new SSN in the meanwhile... and they don't get to store the new SSN in their database (because they dun messed up). I think that would be a better outcome for everyone.
- pas 7y agoThere's no need for SSN at all. Everyone is identified by their birth date, the name of their mother and their birth place. (Their own name is not that important, for example twins can pull off identity fraud easily, as they can pretend to have the name of their twin, and how would anyone know!?) Sure, we can go full 1984 and GATTACA and use biomarkers and papers and whatever. But that just makes puts many edge cases out of scope, doesn't solve them at all. If someone shows up at the bank and claims to be someone, they can produce documents, either via simple forgery or by stealing someone else's "identity". They can then pass all the checks the bank runs. (Sure, if there is some database that says don't open accounts for these IDs, then the scammer can start with persuading the admins of that DB to unlock the corresponding ID.) And this will always happen as long as we allow fallbacks for people to get access to (and create) their accounts after losing (or without creating) a strong cryptographic key (password).