Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
A Georgia court granted final approval for an Equifax settlement in a class-action lawsuit, after the credit-reporting agency was hit by its massive 2017 data breach.
Equifax will pay $380.5 million to settle lawsuits regarding the 2017 data breach, the Atlanta federal judge reportedly ruled this week. In addition, Equifax may be required to dole out an additional $125 million "if needed to satisfy claims for certain out-of-pocket losses."
"We are pleased that the Court approved the settlement, which provides significant benefits for consumers whose information was impacted in the 2017 breach," an Equifax spokesperson told Threatpost.
The $380.5 million will be placed into a fund for consumers affected who are part of the class outlined in the lawsuit. The settlement cost will also cover attorneys' fees, expenses and administration costs.
The $380.5 million for affected consumers is slightly more than the $300 million proposed previously by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in July 2019. The July 2019 proposal was subject to the federal court's Monday approval.
As part of the settlement, the company will also need to pay at least $1 billion for improved security, as well as $175 million to 48 states in the U.S and and $100 million in civil penalties to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Equifax will also need to pay $1.4 billion in litigation expenses and $77.5 million as a percentage based fee, according to Bloomberg.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 17 2020, @12:00PM (7 children)
Seems a reasonable amount.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by HiThere on Friday January 17 2020, @12:54PM (1 child)
Too small. The company is still in business.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by fustakrakich on Friday January 17 2020, @07:03PM
Exactly, corporate charter should been revoked and officers sanctioned, but, business is business.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 17 2020, @03:53PM (1 child)
That's $2.53 for every person affected.
(Score: 2) by Fnord666 on Friday January 17 2020, @04:21PM
I was going to say this probably means everyone who joined the class action suit will receive $2.53 US instead of $2.51 US in the settlement.
(Score: 4, Touché) by Thexalon on Friday January 17 2020, @05:02PM (2 children)
So if I'm reading this correctly, the lawyers are getting approximately 4-5 times what the affected people are getting.
And yeah, the fact that Equifax is still in business is a problem, because from now on investors will have a price to compare to when failing to push for business's records to be properly secured.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by darkfeline on Saturday January 18 2020, @03:17AM (1 child)
Or more to the point, that $1.4 billion in litigation expenses isn't a fine. It's a tax write-off.
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(Score: 2) by Common Joe on Saturday January 18 2020, @09:54AM
I was marveling at the fact that "The $380.5 million for affected consumers is slightly more than the $300 million proposed previously..." means $80.5 million is chump change. Side note: if anyone has a little extra in their pocket and is willing to throw a couple of mill my way, I'd be happy to accept.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by jmichaelhudsondotnet on Friday January 17 2020, @01:23PM (2 children)
There is no "payout" that can compensate us for the loss of trust, the price is too high. We can never trust something like this again.
Anyone who does is just demonstating their lack of intelligence, and enslavement. As in, your own mind has enslaved your body because you were basically asked to nicely.
Your entire life history credit rating was given away, from the back of a truck, and they want to say they are sorry and give you a hundred dollar check, if you give them a bunch of new updated data on you.
That is not the relationship between a free citizen and a private commercial institution, that is the relationship between a fanatical death cult and an acolyte.
You have no rights, they get all of the rights. They wipe their dicks with your face, you say thank you and hope you get a check in the mail.
People think just because they aren't getting numbers tattood against their will, yet, (not like your own tattooes dont already serve the same purpose), but they are, and things like this demonstrates it.
They are trying to say they are sorry for paying something priceless, after the fact re-writing history that a vast external expense foisted on us over decades, actually had a manageable dollar value.
A clearer example of civil warfare, class warfare, or outright theft is hard to find without sexual violence being involved. Well, so then epstein, which is part of it, wrapped up in the deal along with the 'face being used as dickwipe' thing.
Real easy to know which parents have money trouble when making your take it or leave it offers on their progeny.
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(Score: 3, Informative) by Arik on Friday January 17 2020, @04:35PM (1 child)
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by jmichaelhudsondotnet on Saturday January 18 2020, @06:21PM
well said.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 17 2020, @08:50PM
In theory, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is a great idea.
In practice, it is an unaccountable slush fund. Right from the start, it was used to force companies to give money to leftist causes. Banks would settle with the CFPB for various misdeeds, with the money going to private entities that were favored by the people running the CFPB. To close the circle of corruption, of course those private entities could employ the incompetent relatives of politicians and make "campaign donations" to win favor. Effectively this diverted money from banks to politicians.