Equifax lobbied to take away breach victims' right to sue

[doctorow]

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2017/09/09/depraved-indifference.html

…

[shylocxs]

I don’t know how these people live with themselves.

[bobtato]

Still, most of their victims haven’t given up their right to sue, right? I mean, most people never check Equifax’s portfolio of lies about their credit history, so they won’t have clicked on any horseshit “agreement” even if it could have stood up in court.

It shouldn’t take more than a handful of millions of victims joining a class action suit to erase the company, and meanwhile hopefully the execs and board members who sold their shares can get squared away in prison without too much fuss.

[David_Friedman]

http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/07/pf/victim-equifax-hack-how-to-find-out/index.html

If you sign up for Equifax’s offer of free protection, you may be limiting your rights to sue and be forced to take disputes to arbitration. But you can opt out of that provision if you notify the company in writing within 30 days.

[endotoxin]

But Capitalism will save America! Right guys?

… guys?

[Daaksyde]

@bobtato

It shouldn’t take more than a handful of millions of victims joining a class action suit to erase the company

In a class action suit, the lawyers get millions or billions while the victims get maybe $3 each.

Meanwhile, that is one of only 3 companies in the business. To erase it would upset the balance of power, so it is too big to fail and the government will have to give it a bailout - giving the company hundreds or thousands of dollars from the victim’s taxes.

#latestagecapitalism

[anon47741163]

Proving once again that just because a company has limited liability, does not mean there’s a corresponding limit on how much damage that company can do.

[jerwin]

@Daaksyde

Meanwhile, that is one of only 3 companies in the business.

Krebs says that there are four.

Depending on your state of residence and your circumstances, you may also have to pay a small fee to place a freeze at each bureau. There are four consumer credit bureaus, including Equifax, Experian, Innovis and Trans Union.

[mlemeut]

With a lot of money.

[fuzzyfungus]

@doctorow

a rule blocking companies from forcing their customers to waive class action rights would expose credit agencies “to unmanageable class action liability that could result in full disgorgement of revenues” if companies are found to have illegally harmed their customers.

@doctorow

found “that credit reporting constituted one of the four largest product areas for class action relief” for consumers.

So their entire argument essentially boiled down to “We are wildly guilty and this is one of the few areas where there is some risk of consequences; that’s why we need to be exempt from it.”

How perversely honest of them.

[shylocxs]

Oh, yeah, I forget that.

The revolution is coming. Can’t start early enough.

Will solve that problem.

[bobtato]

@Daaksyde

To erase it would upset the balance of power, so it is too big to fail

That might be the call, but I’m not sure credit scoring agencies are really that indispensable to the economy. I have a sneaking feeling that if the whole industry were eliminated, banks and retailers would find equally good or better ways to make credit decisions. Such as flipping a coin, for example.

[davide405]

@bobtato

It shouldn’t take more than a handful of millions of victims joining a class action suit to erase the company, and meanwhile hopefully the execs and board members who sold their shares can get squared away in prison without too much fuss.

I’m looking forward to this, a lot

[davide405]

@Daaksyde

To erase it would upset the balance of power, so it is too big to fail and the government will have to give it a bailout

Let’s have an experiment with Equifucks, and reject the notion of “too big to fail.”

Send all the senior execs off to prison, liquidate the company’s assets and distribute it to those who have been doxed, with possibly a small set-aside to provide some relief for the low level employees who genuinely had no knowldedge or control over events.

[Daaksyde]

@bobtato

I’m not sure credit scoring agencies are really that indispensable to the economy.

They’re not, but politicians might consider their lobbying money indispensable.