What you need to know about the $ 700 million Equifax data breach settlement

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Consumers whose private information was compromised in the 2017 Equifax massive data breach will be able to claim up to $ 20,000 for their issues, as well as ongoing monitoring and fraud assistance .

On Monday, Equifax agreed to pay $ 700 million to settle federal and state investigations into how it handled a massive data breach that affected nearly 150 million people, or about 56% of Americans.

The proposed settlement, which has yet to be approved by a judge in what is expected to be a six-month process, includes $ 425 million to directly help consumers affected by the violation. The restitution fund will have $ 300 million dedicated to compensating consumers, with an additional $ 125 million available if the initial funds run out.

“We are committed to solving this problem for consumers and have the financial capacity to manage the settlement,” Equifax CEO Mark Begor said in a statement. “This comprehensive settlement is a positive step for US consumers and Equifax as we move forward from the 2017 cybersecurity incident.”

According to Equifax, individual consumers will be able to claim up to $ 20,000 for any loss or fraud caused by the breach or direct expenses they may have incurred, such as purchasing credit monitoring services or paying to freeze and unfreeze their credit. reports. As part of that $ 20,000 refund, consumers can submit claims for any time they were required to spend on the data breach – $ 25 per hour, up to 8 p.m., according to the Federal Trade Commission.

The complaints process is not yet open, but you can sign up to receive email notifications regarding the Equifax FTC Settlement.

In a conference call Monday, an Equifax spokesperson said data from the 2017 breach had yet to be discovered for sale on the dark web. While this may make it more difficult for consumers to claim the full $ 20,000 cash payment available, Monday’s settlement offers other forms of relief and continued help to consumers.

Consumers can request additional services from Equifax

In addition to cash compensation for those who can prove that they have directly lost time or money, all affected consumers will have the option of receiving at least four years of credit monitoring services through Experian and up to ‘to six more years of monitoring with Equifax. If you have already set up credit monitoring, you can request a cash payment of $ 125.

Starting next year, you can request up to six additional free credit reports per year from Equifax through 2027. This is in addition to the only free credit report from every credit bureau – Equifax, Experian, and Transunion. – that all Americans can claim every year.

In addition, the regulation allows for seven years of free Assisted Identity Restoration service to help you resolve any fraud or identity theft issues caused by the breach.

“The incompetence, neglect and lax security standards of this company have endangered the identity of half of the American population,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement on Monday. “Now it’s time for the company to do the right thing and not only reimburse the millions of victims of their data breach, but also provide every American who has had access to their highly sensitive information with the tools to help them. he needs to fight identity theft in the future. . “

Equifax Breach Scale

The Equifax data breach was one of the largest in history. The company announced the data breach in September 2017, ultimately reporting that 147 million consumers were affected. Hackers were able to access a wealth of private information about consumers, including names, social security numbers, dates of birth, credit card numbers, and even driver’s license numbers.

During the investigation of the breach, Equifax admitted that the company was told in March that hackers could exploit a vulnerability in its system, but failed to install the necessary patches.

As part of Monday’s settlement agreement, Equifax will also pay $ 175 million in civil penalties to states and a $ 100 million fine to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

While the $ 425 million restitution fund may seem modest for a violation of this scale, affecting 147 million consumers, Chi Chi Wu, an attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, said he was providing “real dollars” to the consumers. consumers.

“Consumers should start filing claims as soon as they start to be accepted – the more claims, the more Equifax pays, and the amount could include an additional $ 125 million if there are enough claims,” he said. she said in a press release.

Don’t miss: Here’s how much money hackers get for your social security number and other black market information

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