Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2017/09/12/ddos-equifax.html
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This is a worthy idea 
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Breaking News: Joshua Browder now holds the record for lowest credit score - zero - at all credit reporting agencies.
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I thought about suing them, but how do I show harm? I presume I first have to send them a demand for some payment to cover damages and then when they don’t pay, I sue. What are my damages?
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What about unfortunate Canadians who once had an SSN and now are back to Canada…? Asking for a friend, who is also shitpanted that Equifax Canada was probably using the same tech stack, was probably hacked too, but no one is talking about…
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Yeah, this is a cute idea, but unless someone has actually stolen your identity because of the breach, you’re not going to win, and will probably lose court fees in the process. Here’s some advice from a lawyer on Reddit:
Equifax was very, very negligent in letting their systems get breached. But until there’s an actual injury, you can’t win any lawsuit unless there are statutory damages, which almost certainly brings it into the federal court realm. You can’t just pick a random-ass number and say “I was harmed for this amount.” No, you can’t get it for emotional damages. No, you can’t get it for pain and suffering. Unless your ID was actually stolen and used to open a line of credit, your best option is to remain in the class action.
Sounds about right.
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For Canadians, Equifax probably tracks SIN, even through they’re not allowed to. Can’t leave a blank field in the database.
For damages, how about the the $30-$50 per year it costs to maintain security freezes and/or fraud alerts on your accounts at the majors players, for the rest of your life since SSNs are forever? If I expect to live another 30 years, that’s an actual cost of $900 to $1500, which seems perfectly in-line with a typical small claims case.
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I dunno, since regardless of the breach, credit freezes/monitoring is a good idea anyway, a strong argument could be made that that’s not Equifax’s responsibility. Plus, does small claims court make awards for potential future expenses? Seems shaky to me.
Credit freezes are something like $10. At a minimum, I’d like to see Equifax waive the fee and let people freeze their credit for free. I’d also like for them to pay for me to freeze my credit on the other services.
Credit monitoring isn’t the answer. I don’t want to be told my identity has been stolen, I want to prevent that from happening.
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My freezes cost nothing for Equifax and Experian, but for some reason TransUnion charged me $5.00. Depends on your state of residence, I suppose. It was super easy to do, and I should have done it ages ago anyway. You’re right, though, monitoring is basically useless.
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I just googled it and found this article from 10 hours ago:
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Oh hell no. That’s right up the alley of “if you don’t want to get raped, you shouldn’t dress like that” or “If you don’t want to get gay-bashed, don’t hold hands in public”. Fuck that shit and the horse it rode in on. Credit monitoring is ONLY needed because of the for-profit business model that these three companies have built. If it had been regulated from the start, they would have to come to ME to set up a file on me, and I would have a way (password, phone call, etc), that would be set by me that controlled if anyone could run/open credit in my name. They didn’t create the disease, they just created the perfect conditions for an outbreak while selling the cure. You want to be that much of a pawn go right ahead. Not me.
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Well then by all means, sue Equifax and see how far you get. Good luck with that.
You’ve already rolled over and showed them how much you want to comply by buying their “cure”. I never said a small claims suit was worth pursuing. I just said that thinking it was reasonable to pay for a product that they created the need for in the first place was bullshit. People need to use this situation to force the government to crack down and regulate the shit out of these shitbags. You want to submit, good for you. But the problem only gets fixed when people stop choosing to be meek and pay for something that is completely unnecessary. Keep buying their shit, see how far that gets you. Good luck with that.
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And Equifax having to respond to potentially hundreds of thousands of claims across 50 different state court systems will certainly get their attention. But at least they will have plenty of money to spend on it thanks to people who just roll over and take it like yourself. It IS their responsibility because they collected the private info and then let it get stolen. It is the epitome of liability and negligence.
Wow, that is some truly impressive chest-thumping.
And each person who loses over frivolous claims will have wasted court costs and their time, having accomplished precisely nothing, as Equifax absorbs whatever minor impact the lawsuits have. But yeah, be sure to let us know when you’ve stuck it to the Man, Mr. Internet Tough Guy. I’m sure we’re all pulling for you.
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