Chances are, you’re affected.
It seems the week is just disaster prone. On the west coast, everything’s on fire. On the East Coast, a hurricane is terrorizing the countryside. And all over, people are reeling from the news that Equifax lost vitally important financial data in a cyberattack.
Roughly 143 million Americans have been affected by this. That’s nearly half the country. It’s not some small thing, either. It’s exactly the stuff that identity thieves want; credit card numbers, social security numbers, debts, windfalls, mortgages, alimony payment information & etc. It’s unbelievably bad, and it couldn’t come at a worse time. Or at least, that would be true, if it had actually happened this week.
The attacks happened somewhere between mid May to July. During the intermittent time, the heads at Equifax took the opportunity to sell off all of their stock in the company before notifying anyone. Which I’d consider suspicious, but I’ll leave you, dear reader, to be the judge.
As for what you can do? Well, you have a few options. Equifax has put up a site to help you figure out if you’ve been hit by this. But I wouldn’t be quite so willing to trust them right off the bat. Doubly so, since if you have, it tries to sign you up for TrustedID. Whose terms of use automatically waive your rights to join a class action suit against them (a.k.a. the most likely type to succeed). Nice job guys; really forestalling that point in the near future where people go medieval on you with actual torches and pitchforks:
ARBITRATION. PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE SECTION CAREFULLY BECAUSE IT AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS BY REQUIRING ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES (EXCEPT AS SET FORTH BELOW) AND A WAIVER OF THE ABILITY TO BRING OR PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION, CLASS ARBITRATION, OR OTHER REPRESENTATIVE ACTION. ARBITRATION PROVIDES A QUICK AND COST EFFECTIVE MECHANISM FOR RESOLVING DISPUTES, BUT YOU SHOULD BE AWARE THAT IT ALSO LIMITS YOUR RIGHTS TO DISCOVERY AND APPEAL.
Except as otherwise expressly provided in this Agreement, all claims, disputes, or controversies raised by either You or TrustedID, Inc. arising from or relating to the subject matter of this Agreement or the Products (“Claim” or “Claims”) shall be finally settled by arbitration in the county (or parish) where you live or where You and TrustedID, Inc. otherwise agree using the English language in accordance with the Arbitration Rules and Procedures of JAMS then in effect, by one commercial arbitrator with substantial experience in resolving complex commercial contract disputes, who may or may not be selected from the appropriate list of JAMS arbitrators.
This arbitration will be conducted as an individual arbitration. Neither You nor We consent or agree to any arbitration on a class or representative basis, and the arbitrator shall have no authority to proceed with arbitration on a class or representative basis. No arbitration will be consolidated with any other arbitration proceeding without the consent of all parties. This class action waiver provision applies to and includes any Claims made and remedies sought as part of any class action, private attorney general action, or other representative action. By consenting to submit Your Claims to arbitration, You will be forfeiting Your right to bring or participate in any class action (whether as a named plaintiff or a class member) or to share in any class action awards, including class claims where a class has not yet been certified, even if the facts and circumstances upon which the Claims are based already occurred or existed.
If the parties cannot agree upon the identity of the arbitrator within fifteen (15) days following the date, then a single arbitrator shall be selected on an expedited basis in accordance with the Arbitration Rules and Procedures of JAMS. Any arbitrator so selected shall have substantial experience in complex commercial contract disputes. Judgment upon the award so rendered may be entered in a court having jurisdiction or application may be made to such court for judicial acceptance of any award and an order of enforcement, as the case may be. Notwithstanding the foregoing, each party shall have the right to institute injunctive or other forms of equitable relief at any time in any court of competent jurisdiction.
This agreement to arbitrate involves interstate commerce and is made pursuant to the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. sections 1-16 (the “FAA”). Any claim or dispute as to the enforceability of this arbitration provision’s restrictions on your right to participate in or pursue a class action or class wide arbitration shall be decided by a court and not an arbitrator.
Notwithstanding anything in this Section, either You or TrustedID, Inc. may bring an individual action in small claims court as long as (i) the claim is not aggregated with the claim of any other person, and (ii) the small claims court is located in the same county (or parish) and state as Your address that You most recently provided to TrustedID, Inc. according to TrustedID, Inc.’s records in connection with this Agreement.
Your best bet is to put a freeze on your credit, which requires you to contact the major three credit bureaus and request it (yes, that includes Equifax) as we detailed on The Daily Game. It would also be prudent, if your affected, to contact local law enforcement and give them a heads up. As far as anything else, well, it’s up in the air. You will want to keep an eye out for any information, but it’d be best not to sign anything without reading it. embarrassing
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