6 ms·

What I find especially bothersome is that their resolution has, in practice, only cost their victims more. Because the time needed to fill out that form and pr

What I find especially bothersome is that their resolution has, in practice, only cost their victims more. Because the time needed to fill out that form and provide the documents will have been worth more than the payout, if one ever comes, for just about anyone who bothered to do it. Not at all satisfactory.

rhizome 7y ago
It's expensive to make big companies pay for their misdeeds.
EpicEng 7y ago
There would be no settlement at all without lawyers taking the case on contingency and fronting the costs.
- cma 7y ago
  No settlement would be better since filling out the forms costs more than $6 in time.
  - EpicEng 7y ago
    The settlement is meant to be punitive, not necessarily amount to a windfall for you. It's not terribly easy in a case like this to even prove damages. And no, it wouldn't be better to let them off the hook completely. I'm not saying this settlement is _at all_ satisfying, but c'mon.
    - Retric 7y ago
      The settlement is also political cover to avoid dealing with this problem. Without that some more meaningful change could have happened.
      - EpicEng 7y ago
        I do disagree with you.
        Retric 7y ago
        Edit: I seen 3 versions of that post so NM.
        trentlott 7y ago
        "I do not disagree with you at all."
        EpicEng 7y ago
        Edited my response to be less haughty :D
        EpicEng 7y ago
        I apparently screwed up on the edit, but only two versions. I do not disagree with you. I can no longer edit. I blame my phone and fat fingers. It's a mess now. The gist of my original comment was "I agree with you".
        Retric 7y ago
        That’s fine, I must have miss read it the first time. Because I re read it noted the double negative and was editing it when I then saw the final version... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
    - droithomme 7y ago
      Windfall? People are hoping at best for a tiny fraction of the cost of actual damages. That's not a windfall. The only people getting a windfall are the class action attorneys. The actual victims get basically nothing.
      - EpicEng 7y ago
        I think you interpreted what I said in the worst way possible, and again, it's incredibly difficult to prove damages. We all know they exist, but if you can prove them you don't need a class action.
    - throwaway287391 7y ago
      If it's meant to be punitive, shouldn't the full penalty amount get divided evenly among everyone who applies for the compensation, rather than being a fixed $6 per person who applies? Or does Equifax somehow end up losing the full penalty amount regardless (e.g. is the unclaimed amount paid to the government etc.)?
      - EpicEng 7y ago
        It depends on the settlement agreement, but they don't typically go back to the defendant. In this case, I found one source without looking up the actual agreement https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2019/07/26/what-happens-to-unclaimed-benefits-from-equifax-settlement https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2019/07/26/what-happe... >Any funds unclaimed after 4-year extension will be distributed in services >Services offered are for identity restoration, credit monitoring And those services are from... Equifax, which I feel is pretty shitty. Like I said, I don't like the settlement itself, but lawyers get a lot of hate for class actions from people who seemingly don't appreciate the risk they take in taking in the case.
        rblatz 7y ago
        I’m so so glad they took all that risk on so that I can get $6 while they get 80 million. Poor lawyers, so charitable of them. And who gave them the right to profit massively off the violation of my privacy. I should be able to sue them. This is not justice, this is profiteering off others misfortune.
        EpicEng 7y ago
        Design a better system then, I don't know what to tell you. The lawyers didn't engineer this debacle.
    - paulie_a 7y ago
      They essentially stole my info and did nothing to protect can it. A corporate death penalty should exist and all assets seized including every paperclip This company should be "old yellered"
      - EpicEng 7y ago
        I agree
    - cma 7y ago
      It isn't supposed to punish the claimants though. Filling out the form was worth less than the payoff. Better to just burn the settlement than to waste everyone's time trying to distribute it. Or give out $600 to every 1 out of 100 claimants based on a lottery instead of $6 to all.
      - masonic 7y ago
        I opted out, hoping that another case would be pursued.
droithomme 7y ago
> their resolution has, in practice, only cost their victims more All class actions are this way. The only correct move is to exclude yourself from the class and reserve your right to sue individually, after the class action, citing that as precedent. Class members never get more than a useless coupon or comparable.
- geofft 7y ago
  Have you sued and had that work well? I'm interested in doing this but I am curious to know how well it works.
nwallin 7y ago
I honestly, no bullshit, wish the hackers had simply released the entire dataset. Just drop kicked it into the the public domain. It would have been the greatest thing ever. This dumb ass bullshit system of credit reporting would have dissolved overnight. Instead we're stuck with the worst of all worlds. Our information is completely fucked, and we're the ones expected to protect it. And we're not even permitted to have proper tools to protect ourselves.
- libria 7y ago
  I totally get your sentiment about it forcing reform. What would replace it though? Risk assessment is a valid concern for lenders. Diligent payers should be rewarded.
  - cinquemb 7y ago
    I don't think the lending industry would go away with a leak, though I do think that more players with the ability to analyze the data could have come along and used the data set to lower the costs of lending and/or incentivized other systems of data collection/risk analysis and underwriting. Though I do think it would have hurt the bottom line of the giants that have few incentives to innovate, and many incentives to maintain the way things are.
- cinquemb 7y ago
  > I honestly, no bullshit, wish the hackers had simply released the entire dataset. Just drop kicked it into the the public domain. A lot of systems that leverage data behind walled gardens, collected from the masses and for the benefit of the few could also have the same approach. A couple of high profile "leaks" come to mind…

rhizome 7y ago

It's expensive to make big companies pay for their misdeeds.

EpicEng 7y ago

There would be no settlement at all without lawyers taking the case on contingency and fronting the costs.

cma 7y ago
No settlement would be better since filling out the forms costs more than $6 in time.
- EpicEng 7y ago
  The settlement is meant to be punitive, not necessarily amount to a windfall for you. It's not terribly easy in a case like this to even prove damages. And no, it wouldn't be better to let them off the hook completely. I'm not saying this settlement is _at all_ satisfying, but c'mon.
  - Retric 7y ago
    The settlement is also political cover to avoid dealing with this problem. Without that some more meaningful change could have happened.
    - EpicEng 7y ago
      I do disagree with you.
      - Retric 7y ago
        Edit: I seen 3 versions of that post so NM.
        trentlott 7y ago
        "I do not disagree with you at all."
        EpicEng 7y ago
        Edited my response to be less haughty :D
        EpicEng 7y ago
        I apparently screwed up on the edit, but only two versions. I do not disagree with you. I can no longer edit. I blame my phone and fat fingers. It's a mess now. The gist of my original comment was "I agree with you".
        Retric 7y ago
        That’s fine, I must have miss read it the first time. Because I re read it noted the double negative and was editing it when I then saw the final version... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  - droithomme 7y ago
    Windfall? People are hoping at best for a tiny fraction of the cost of actual damages. That's not a windfall. The only people getting a windfall are the class action attorneys. The actual victims get basically nothing.
    - EpicEng 7y ago
      I think you interpreted what I said in the worst way possible, and again, it's incredibly difficult to prove damages. We all know they exist, but if you can prove them you don't need a class action.
  - throwaway287391 7y ago
    If it's meant to be punitive, shouldn't the full penalty amount get divided evenly among everyone who applies for the compensation, rather than being a fixed $6 per person who applies? Or does Equifax somehow end up losing the full penalty amount regardless (e.g. is the unclaimed amount paid to the government etc.)?
    - EpicEng 7y ago
      It depends on the settlement agreement, but they don't typically go back to the defendant. In this case, I found one source without looking up the actual agreement https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2019/07/26/what-happens-to-unclaimed-benefits-from-equifax-settlement https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2019/07/26/what-happe... >Any funds unclaimed after 4-year extension will be distributed in services >Services offered are for identity restoration, credit monitoring And those services are from... Equifax, which I feel is pretty shitty. Like I said, I don't like the settlement itself, but lawyers get a lot of hate for class actions from people who seemingly don't appreciate the risk they take in taking in the case.
      - rblatz 7y ago
        I’m so so glad they took all that risk on so that I can get $6 while they get 80 million. Poor lawyers, so charitable of them. And who gave them the right to profit massively off the violation of my privacy. I should be able to sue them. This is not justice, this is profiteering off others misfortune.
        EpicEng 7y ago
        Design a better system then, I don't know what to tell you. The lawyers didn't engineer this debacle.
  - paulie_a 7y ago
    They essentially stole my info and did nothing to protect can it. A corporate death penalty should exist and all assets seized including every paperclip This company should be "old yellered"
    - EpicEng 7y ago
      I agree
  - cma 7y ago
    It isn't supposed to punish the claimants though. Filling out the form was worth less than the payoff. Better to just burn the settlement than to waste everyone's time trying to distribute it. Or give out $600 to every 1 out of 100 claimants based on a lottery instead of $6 to all.
    - masonic 7y ago
      I opted out, hoping that another case would be pursued.

droithomme 7y ago

> their resolution has, in practice, only cost their victims more All class actions are this way. The only correct move is to exclude yourself from the class and reserve your right to sue individually, after the class action, citing that as precedent. Class members never get more than a useless coupon or comparable.

geofft 7y ago
Have you sued and had that work well? I'm interested in doing this but I am curious to know how well it works.

nwallin 7y ago

I honestly, no bullshit, wish the hackers had simply released the entire dataset. Just drop kicked it into the the public domain. It would have been the greatest thing ever. This dumb ass bullshit system of credit reporting would have dissolved overnight. Instead we're stuck with the worst of all worlds. Our information is completely fucked, and we're the ones expected to protect it. And we're not even permitted to have proper tools to protect ourselves.

libria 7y ago
I totally get your sentiment about it forcing reform. What would replace it though? Risk assessment is a valid concern for lenders. Diligent payers should be rewarded.
- cinquemb 7y ago
  I don't think the lending industry would go away with a leak, though I do think that more players with the ability to analyze the data could have come along and used the data set to lower the costs of lending and/or incentivized other systems of data collection/risk analysis and underwriting. Though I do think it would have hurt the bottom line of the giants that have few incentives to innovate, and many incentives to maintain the way things are.
cinquemb 7y ago
> I honestly, no bullshit, wish the hackers had simply released the entire dataset. Just drop kicked it into the the public domain. A lot of systems that leverage data behind walled gardens, collected from the masses and for the benefit of the few could also have the same approach. A couple of high profile "leaks" come to mind…