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>As reported by Bloomberg, news of this massive new data breach was revealed as part of a class action lawsuit that was filed at the beginning of this month. I
by jmclnx 2y ago
>As reported by Bloomberg, news of this massive new data breach was revealed as part of a class action lawsuit that was filed at the beginning of this month.
I am so looking forward to getting my 2.99 USD check from this suit. Of course I need to apply for that check via an on-line site and give them all my personal information.
Great time to be alive.
- vkou 2y agoYou don't get a check, you get a gift card for a credit monitoring service that you will never use because all your data leaks all the time already. Motherfuckers asked my wife her SSN when she was getting a store card the other week. Not a credit card, a store card.
- ImPostingOnHN 2y agoWhat is a store card in that case, and how does it differ from credit card (other than, I assume, the place you apply)? The store cards I have seen are simply store-branded credit cards.
- ghaff 2y agoSome store chains still have their own credit cards that aren't just co-branded. Far less common these days but I've still occasionally signed up for discounts on large purchases.
- maicro 2y agoBased on the intonation, I'm guessing it's a "loyalty" card - it tracks your purchases, unlocks some level of default discounts, and will often accrue points you can then use for various purposes. Giant Eagle in the US is a good example - you earn points for every dollar spent, then you can redeem the points for percent off gas at their gas station, a percent off coupon, etc. (the above description is very bland - add in anti-capitalist/m messaging wherever you deem appropriate, I won't argue)
- vkou 2y ago> What is a store card in that case, and how does it differ from credit card (other than, I assume, the place you apply)? It's not a credit card, debit card, or any other kind of payment card. It's not even, like, a COSTCO membership card. It's a tracking card that is used by the store to track your purchases in exchange for a small discount on some items if you swipe it at checkout.
- ImPostingOnHN 2y agoThank you, and that does seem like a ridiculous thing for which to request an SSN.
- cs702 2y agoActually, you get one free year of credit monitoring. After the first year, you'll be asked to pay for monitoring.
- hansvm 2y agoActually, you'll need to input your credit card or other payment details for the one year, and after the first year they'll automatically remove money from it. Cancellation is not posible.
- bradknowles 2y agoThat’s why I sign up with virtual credit cards from privacy.com. If I don’t like the service, then I can cancel the card. And I can limit them to how much money can be taken out per transaction, or per month, or per year, or total. Or the card could be a one-time only card. And it will be merchant locked, so if anyone else tries to charge that card, they get refused.
- vkou 2y agoGiven how many data breaches I've been in, I'm pretty sure I have more unclaimed years of free credit monitoring than there are grains of sand on a beach.
- qup 2y agoI had a pawn shop try to take my social to buy a air paint sprayer. They said it was a city ordinance. I left empty handed, even though I think SSN shouldn't be used as a password.
- fragmede 2y agoair paint sprayer seems innocuous, but given the problem of graffiti (no matter where you actually live), they likely weren't lying to you.
- qup 2y agoI said something like "really? for a paint sprayer?" He said "for anything in the store."
- bradknowles 2y agoNow that would be a violation of federal law. I would inform the store that my wife is a lawyer, and we can have her law firm contact their law firm to discuss why they are in violation of federal law. Then I would ask them if they want to reconsider this possibility. Now, if you actually want to use this tactic, I would suggest you look up the federal law in question, so that you can quote it by section and paragraph. Maybe keep a printed copy with you.
- bradknowles 2y agoTechnically, they’re still a creditor, and creditors get special privileges when it comes to things like that. So, while I would refuse, it’s probably not a violation of federal law.
- hrunt 2y agoHere's a fun thought experiment. How much should National Public Data have to pay the people affected by this breach? The article says there are 2.9 billion people impacted. Let's take that at face value and assume that there are no duplicates in there. How much should each person receive? The article also says that USDoD tried to sell the data for only $3.5 million, so they value it at roughly $830/person. Now, in class actions, not everyone takes the deal. Most people ignore it or never pay attention to the notice. Let's say, very generously, 10% of those affected take the deal. That would be 290 million people. If you gave each of them $100, that would be $29 billion dollars. Do you think National Public Data even has that kind of money? What if we gave everyone just your $3? That's $870 million. I don't think this data broker probably even has that much money. Your only real hope of getting a sizable payout from this class is either a) NPD is sitting on a mountain of cash or b) a very small percentage of users get paid. Anything else and the money isn't there. When people say that there need to be criminal, go-to-jail type repercussions for not securing data, this is why. People value their freedom much more than businesses value staying solvent. Planet Money just did a great episode on how class action lawsuits actually work, from both sides[1]. [1] https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1197961271 https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1197961271
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]