Since 143 million of Americans have been affected by the Equifax data breach you may have had your personal private information exposed to third parties. If you do not know by now, Equifax is a global information solutions company that organizes, assimilates and analyzes data on more than 820 million consumers and more than 91 million businesses worldwide, and its database includes employee data contributed from more than 7,100 employers.
What Has Equifax Done Since the Breach?
Since this breach, Equifax has released guidance on what to do in the case your security has been breached. Find out more here. Equifax has also issued a statement regarding the potential impact of the breach.
Have You Been Hacked?
You data may have been exposed if, after your inquiry, Equifax responds as they do in the above photo: “Based on the information provided, we believe that your personal information may have been impacted by this incident.”
The California Data Breach Act
The California Data Breach Act was enacted “to ensure that personal information about California residents is protected.” (Civ. Code §1798.81.5(a)(1).) If you are a company that collects personal information and reasonable procedures are not taken to protect that personal information, you violate Civ. Code §1798.81.5 unless you properly notify the consumer. In the current Equifax data breach, allegedly Equifax board members, directors, and shareholders sold their Equifax shares despite knowing about the breach during the six week window between knowing about the data breach and notifying the public about the breach.
Some relevant news articles are below.
http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/16/technology/equifax-breach-security-hole/index.html
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2017/09/12/how-did-equifax-breach-happen-here-some-answers-and-some-questions/658343001/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/09/14/equifax-identity-theft-hackers-apache-struts/665100001/
http://www.lbmcinformationsecurity.com/blog/the-equifax-data-breach-how-did-it-happen
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/how-did-equifax-hack-even-happen-n801331
Damages
In a successful claim, if gross negligence or willfulness is found in disseminating personal information, actual damages, and statutory damages may be recovered by a consumer. Please note that if your identity has been stolen, your claim will be under a different cause of action you can read about HERE. Call us today to find out if you qualify for a case.
