As you might have heard, nearly 143 million American's data has been breached due to the carelessness of Equifax. 143 million people's name, social security number, current address, credit card numbers, driver's license number, and birthdays have all been leaked. This allows easy access to criminals should they want to pretend to be someone else. This breach, which lasted from mid-May through early June, is a massive PR issue and Equifax is not handling things well.
Clark Howard, a popular consumer expert, recently posted a live video highlighting every misstep Equifax has taken when it comes to resolving issues caused by their mistake. Equifax's first mistake was that the company did not publically announce the data breach until July 29th. Clark Howard even asks in his video, "Where's somebody from Equifax coming out her right now and saying they're sorry? No, they're hiding behind press releases. And by the way, if you want to read the press releases right now, you can't get to them because their website has crashed." This lack of personal accountability is frustrating all of Equifax's victims. The people want answers and are struggling to find them.
Since learning about the breach, many consumers have tried to contact Equifax to check on the status of their data. Their website was the main way consumers could check and see if their data was breached but the site keeps crashing. Even if the customer is able to sign into the website, the information received is not consistent; sometimes the website tells them that their data was breached and then the next time they log in the website tells them their data is safe. Once people realize they are getting nowhere online, they call Equifax's customer service in order to learn more information. However, instead of qualified, knowledgable customer service representatives answering the phone, customers have had to talk to unqualified, unaware people.
Equifax, as a solution to this breach, is offering its consumers a year of their credit monitoring. However this is a trap for consumers. If someone signs up to receive this free monitoring, they waive their rights to go to court against Equifax if they have been harmed at any time because of this data breach. This offer of free credit monitoring by the company that had the data breach in the first place is already unappealing. Add in the fact that consumers will be unable to take legal action should they accept this free service and Equifax shows how little they care about their customers.
The lack of transparency combined with the lack of personal accountability means Equifax is facing some very angry consumers as well as government officials, on both sides of the aisle. This breach affects millions of people's livelihoods and personal security. The fact that Equifax is unable or unwilling to communicate with those who have been affected digs them into a deeper hole. Consumer scan expect to see the dissolution of Equifax as a company. This is much larger than Wells Fargo opening fake accounts under their customers' names. Multiple class-action lawsuits and a Securities and Exchange Commission probe are just a few of the hurdle Equifax will have to face. No PR or marketing is going to be able to help Equifax now.
*If you are concerned with your personal data, click on Clark Howard's live video to see the steps you should take.
Clark Howard, a popular consumer expert, recently posted a live video highlighting every misstep Equifax has taken when it comes to resolving issues caused by their mistake. Equifax's first mistake was that the company did not publically announce the data breach until July 29th. Clark Howard even asks in his video, "Where's somebody from Equifax coming out her right now and saying they're sorry? No, they're hiding behind press releases. And by the way, if you want to read the press releases right now, you can't get to them because their website has crashed." This lack of personal accountability is frustrating all of Equifax's victims. The people want answers and are struggling to find them.
Since learning about the breach, many consumers have tried to contact Equifax to check on the status of their data. Their website was the main way consumers could check and see if their data was breached but the site keeps crashing. Even if the customer is able to sign into the website, the information received is not consistent; sometimes the website tells them that their data was breached and then the next time they log in the website tells them their data is safe. Once people realize they are getting nowhere online, they call Equifax's customer service in order to learn more information. However, instead of qualified, knowledgable customer service representatives answering the phone, customers have had to talk to unqualified, unaware people.
Equifax, as a solution to this breach, is offering its consumers a year of their credit monitoring. However this is a trap for consumers. If someone signs up to receive this free monitoring, they waive their rights to go to court against Equifax if they have been harmed at any time because of this data breach. This offer of free credit monitoring by the company that had the data breach in the first place is already unappealing. Add in the fact that consumers will be unable to take legal action should they accept this free service and Equifax shows how little they care about their customers.
*If you are concerned with your personal data, click on Clark Howard's live video to see the steps you should take.
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