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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums143 Million Reasons Congress Shouldnt Gut the Fair Credit Reporting Act
Also yesterday, Equifax, one of the big three credit reporting agencies, announced a that it had been subject to a massive data breach that exposed our most sensitive identification information, including our Social Security numbers, home addresses, birth dates, drivers license numbers, and credit card numbersinformation that puts the 143 million consumers whose information was compromised at high risk of identity theft and, you guessed it, highly inaccurate credit reports.
And this morning, Public Justice discovered that the site Equifax has set up to supposedly help customers identify whether their information was stolen as part of the hack has you guessed it a forced arbitration clause aimed at keeping consumers out of court, and shielding Equifax from lawsuits. (In another move that likely wont surprise anyone who has been paying attention to Congress lately, lawmakers are also poised to try and kill a rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that prohibits financial institutions, like Wells Fargo, from using these clauses to escape accountability in the courts.)
Equifax put tens of millions of Americans at risk of identity theft at same time it was pressuring Congress to make it less responsible for inaccurate consumer information at the same time its executives were making possibly criminal moves to ensure their own personal wealth remained intact. Congress shouldnt play along with Equifaxs bid to stay rich, screw consumers, and walk away scot-free.
People used to go to jail for stuff like this. Now their friends in Congress want to give them a get out of jail free card. That, to paraphrase Martha, definitely isnt a good thing.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/9/8/1697036/-143-Million-Reasons-Congress-Shouldn-t-Gut-the-Fair-Credit-Reporting-Act
Orrex
(63,291 posts)They are subjective, corrupt, and unverifiable. They specifically benefit the rich while specifically punishing the poor.
They are a tool of capitalism used to advance the interests of capitalism, and their intersection with reality is rare and coincidental.
Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)customerserviceguy
(25,183 posts)We need to fight this at the consumer level. Complain to every one of your creditors about this, tell them not to submit credit information to Equifax, and to never order credit reports from them. If everybody stops using them, they die, and deservedly so.
Put some serious fear into the hearts of the CEO's at Transunion and Experian, enough so that they spend serious money on cybersecurity instead of this year's executive bonuses.
customerserviceguy
(25,183 posts)Please go to this website
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/request-president-make-comments-data-breach-equifax
And sign the petition. Yes, I know asking Trump for something is usually hopeless, but if it works, and he comments on the Equifax breach, then it will be news, and will increase pressure on creditors to put Equifax out of business.
It's worth a shot, and the more people who "sign" will raise awareness of the issue.