Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2017/10/30/you-are-the-product-3.html
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I really need to spend a weekend and do all the safe guards. My only hope is my life and credit was already such shit that no one wants to impersonate me.
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I recently read (if only I could remember) somebody brought suit, and Equifax said, “Binding arbitration - take that!” To which the plaintiff replied, “WTF I never signed anything.” But I never heard how that worked out. Can they force people into arbitration if they never even clicked OK? Any lawyers?
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it was relatively simple to do the credit freezes. i think all of their systems are now working. If you did it right away you would have been pretty disappointed with errors or being told you have to send in a copy of your ID or stupid stuff like that.
But the system needs to change. How about this? Automatically freeze everyone’s credit now. If you need to get a credit card or a loan, you’ll get a phone call to validate it’s you opening the line of credit and it unfreezes for just that specific transaction. How hard is that? Sure, it could still be hacked, but it’s at least closer to a two step authentication. The user could have a secret pin or something, too. So the process takes longer and you can’t get a loan right on the spot. I think we can figure out how to deal with that.
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Didn’t they (being bullshit Congress) just take away our ability to start a class action on this as well? I’m assuming the arbitration clause would probably affect Equifax as well.
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I read that, but you underestimate my ability to ignore my adulting duties… But I will try to work on it this week.
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I froze my credit with all three agencies - but it’s galling that Transunion and Experian both charged me $10 to do it (and one had the balls to add tax to that). Always great to have to give your credit card to an outfit that is demonstrably incompetent. Plus I believe that at least one of them charges you another $10 to lift the freeze temporarily. It’s a fucking racket.
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Well, it’s their fault for charging, but not for the tax. If they are charging tax its the law somewhere…
It serves her right for voluntarily choosing to turn over her financial data to a company she hadn’t properly vetted. After all it’s not like she hasn’t benefited personally from the agreement as described in the contract she and Equifax both signed.
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yes, I’m all for legislation to put a halt to those fees. I would not be surprised if that’s reversed in the wake of all this and we get our money back. I had to pay $5 each for my wife and I at those two as well. And they will charge $5 for a temp unfreeze as well. BS when none of this crap was our fault.
Don’t forget Innovis, the lurking 4th credit bureau. I had never heard of them until all this. they will freeze for free and even send you a nice letter in the mail with your pin. I don’t think they are heavily used by anyone, but who knows, if everyone forgets to freeze there maybe that’ll be an avenue for more identity theft, so better safe than sorry.
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Probably depends on the State. I was charged a flat $5 fee at TU and Experian, no tax.
Probably. IIRC some tax for services and some don’t
I didn’t sign up to use Equifax
Well there’s your problem!
Seems to me the credit rating system has been effectively destroyed. Time to invent a better system.
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Interesting TU charged me $10 plus tax (presumably because they have an office in CT) whereas Experian just charged me $10. Infuriating to read that other states they only charge $5. What utter scumbags they are - the sooner that whole industry is replaced the better
Not an atty, but I would imagine that any reasonable judge would consider the notion that an agreement that was never signed or even presented to the other party would qualify as bogus. Also, my understanding is that there’s a lot of back and forth in the courts as to whether or not click thru agreements are even legit. Of course you don’t even have click thru w/ Equifax, which leads me to wonder if, when all is said and done on this, they will be forced to actually get formal agreement from their “customers”.
Well, I can imagine a devious lawyer making the case that you agreed not to sue Wells Fargo, and they have a contract with Equifax, therefore… It’s a bogus argument, but when has that ever stopped a lawyer?
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