Equifax Data Breach

[Anonymous]

A lot of people are already aware of the reported massive data breach at Equifax.  Because of its importance and potential impact on many FICO forum members, I am posting this here to alert the readers of this forum to the news.  It's important that everyone read the linked thread and take necessary steps to protect your credit files.  Please direct any questions to the below linked thread.  This thread will be stickied for a few days.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-in-the-News/Equifax-data-breach-143-million-US-consumers/td-p...

[Anonymous]

Thanks. I went in the link last night and registered. I have to go back on September 14th for additional registration.

[Anonymous]

I went this morning, it said I was one of the affected and I have to come back on the 13th to enroll

[MrDisco99]

I find it ironic that whenever something like this happens, the response is to offer their credit protection services... which collects even more information about you that can later be compromised.

The consequences of our database society are manifesting themselves now.  Our privacy and our very identities no longer belong to us.  We never gave them permission to do this.  There was never a policy discussion about this.  It was never an electoral issue.  They just came in and did it.  And we now live in a world where each of us can have our identities stolen and lives ruined, through no fault of our own, just so that banks can have quantified risk assessments.

But rest assured, nothing will happen as a result of this.  The financial industry will get what it wants and keep what it has, regardless of how it affects the rest of us. 

[Anonymous]

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@MrDisco99 wrote:

I find it ironic that whenever something like this happens, the response is to offer their credit protection services... which collects even more information about you that can later be compromised.

The consequences of our database society are manifesting themselves now.  Our privacy and our very identities no longer belong to us.  We never gave them permission to do this.  There was never a policy discussion about this.  It was never an electoral issue.  They just came in and did it.  And we now live in a world where each of us can have our identities stolen and lives ruined, through no fault of our own, just so that banks can have quantified risk assessments.

But rest assured, nothing will happen as a result of this.  The financial industry will get what it wants and keep what it has, regardless of how it affects the rest of us. 

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I had this same thought. I'm inclined to just freeze all of my reports instead . . . . 

[happypill]

An article I read this morning said that signing up for their service required giving up the right to sue individually or as part of a class action.  I'm eligible to sign up sometime next week but I'm definitely not going to.  I plan to freeze my reports but if anything happens to me based on this breach, I'm going to want to keep the option to sue.

[Anonymous]

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@happypill wrote:

An article I read this morning said that signing up for their service required giving up the right to sue individually or as part of a class action.  I'm eligible to sign up sometime next week but I'm definitely not going to.  I plan to freeze my reports but if anything happens to me based on this breach, I'm going to want to keep the option to sue.

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I'm going to wait to get clarification on this point before I actually sign up for their services - in the meantime, I'm going to be monitoring all of my cards very closely.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@MrDisco99 wrote:

I find it ironic that whenever something like this happens, the response is to offer their credit protection services... which collects even more information about you that can later be compromised.

The consequences of our database society are manifesting themselves now.  Our privacy and our very identities no longer belong to us.  We never gave them permission to do this.  There was never a policy discussion about this.  It was never an electoral issue.  They just came in and did it.  And we now live in a world where each of us can have our identities stolen and lives ruined, through no fault of our own, just so that banks can have quantified risk assessments.

But rest assured, nothing will happen as a result of this.  The financial industry will get what it wants and keep what it has, regardless of how it affects the rest of us. 

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I had this same thought. I'm inclined to just freeze all of my reports instead . . . . 

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They should have been frozen long ago. 

With all That goes on with identity theft, I have no clue why people don't freeze their reports...

I guess it's just too much work for most.

[Anonymous]

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@happypill wrote:

An article I read this morning said that signing up for their service required giving up the right to sue individually or as part of a class action.  I'm eligible to sign up sometime next week but I'm definitely not going to.  I plan to freeze my reports but if anything happens to me based on this breach, I'm going to want to keep the option to sue.

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Then you have to prove Equifax was the source of breach....let me know how that goes....

[Blackswizz750]

I may freeze my reports now due to yet another breach with a large data firm. My question with freezing is can they be unfrozen with out fraud alerts with lenders or employers who want to view your reports? I know some may deny your app without telling you to unfreeze. If the question is crazy just let me know but I am curious.