https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/09/08/what-to-know-before-you-check-equifaxs-data-breach-website/?utm_term=.3f5e62d80a7c
Would this protect the three Equifax senior executives, including the company’s chief financial officer, John Gamble, who sold shares worth almost $1.8 million in the days after the breach was discovered? The shares were not part of a sale planned in advance, Bloomberg reported.
By Brian Fung September 8, 2017
Worried you may be affected by Equifax's massive data breach? The credit bureau has set up a site, equifaxsecurity2017.com, that allows you to check whether your personal information was exposed. But you may want to think twice about using it, and here's why.
The website's terms of service potentially restricts your legal rights.
Sharp-eyed social media users have combed through the data breach site's fine print — and have found what they argue is a red flag. Buried in the terms of service is language that bars those who enroll in the Equifax checker program from participating in any class-action lawsuits that may arise from the incident. Here's the relevant passage of the terms of service:
[See full article for details on Equifax statement.]
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This language is commonly known in the industry as an “arbitration clause.” In theory, arbitration clauses are meant to streamline the amount of work that's dumped onto the court system. But the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau concluded in the summer that arbitration clauses do more harm to consumers than good — and the agency put in place a rule to ban them.
“In practice, companies use these clauses to bar groups of consumers from joining together to seek justice by vindicating their legal right,” Richard Cordray, the CFPB’s director, told reporters in July, according to my colleague Jonnelle Marte.
For consumers affected by Equifax's breach, this is a live issue; there is already at least one class-action suit brewing against Equifax.
Despite the CFPB's move to ban arbitration clauses, the rule has not yet gone into effect, according to the agency. That won't happen until Sept. 18, the CFPB said. What's more, the rule doesn't work retroactively, meaning that the Equifax legalese would not be covered anyway. The ban only affects contracts made after March 19, 2018, six months after the rule takes effect.
The future of the ban is itself in doubt; just after the CFPB approved the rule, House lawmakers voted to repeal it. The motion to repeal must still be voted on by the Senate and signed by President Trump to become official, but if it does, then the CFPB's regulation could be nixed.
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Friday morning, after social media users began complaining about the arbitration clause, Equifax updated its terms of service to give consumers an escape hatch if they do not wish to be bound by its language.
Here's how the opt-out provision reads:
In order to exclude Yourself from the arbitration provision, You must notify Equifax in writing within 30 days of the date that You first accept this Agreement on the Site (for Products purchased from Equifax on the Site). …
[You] must include Your name, address, and Equifax User ID, as well as a clear statement that You do not wish to resolve disputes with Equifax through arbitration.
This language helps address some of the concerns, but it requires consumers to remember to write to Equifax.
Meanwhile, there's something else that you should know if you do decide to use Equifax's website to check if you were affected.
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You can still monitor your own credit by obtaining a copy of your credit report. Every year, you can request a free copy of your report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies. This means that you can effectively check your credit free every four months or so. You can also put a proactive freeze on your credit, which will prevent unauthorized use.
