How should you take your Equifax data breach settlement?
Do you go for the free money or the free service? And what does the fine print say?
The Federal Trade Commission confirmed on July 22 that Equifax will pay as much as $700 million -- and no less than $575 million -- for the 2017 data breach that affected the personal information of roughly 147 million people. And in the days that followed, a question sprang up: how do you get your own piece of that action?
It's pretty straightforward on the face of things. You can get up to 10 years of free credit monitoring or, if you already have credit monitoring (which can be gotten for free through a service like Credit Karma), you can get $125.
Most of us would probably jump for the free money, but the details are where all of this gets sticky.
On the credit monitoring side, your freebie breaks down to at least four years of three-bureau monitoring from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion plus $1,000,000 of identity theft insurance and then up to six more years of free credit monitoring from Equifax only. If you were a minor in May 2017, when the breach occurred, you're eligible for 18 years of free monitoring.
The free money gets even more complicated. Although the settlement sets aside $425 million to pay for anything connected to people affected by the breach, the lion's share of that covers all the free credit monitoring. There's only $31 million available to cover the cash payouts, so while you can receive as much as $125, that number goes down as more people sign on for the cash.
If every single one of the 147 million people affected by the data breach opted for a cash payment, each person would get $0.21 each. If only a million people go for the cash, you're getting $31 apiece.
Now, there areways to get a bigger payout, but they only apply if you were directly affected by the data breach in some way. You can have various expenses reimbursed and even get paid out for the time you spent dealing with all of that hassle. It won't apply to everyone, so you should read the FTC guidelines for the settlement if you think you might be eligible.
For everyone else, your first step is to see if you were one of the 147 million caught up in the data breach. You can do that right here. If you're not eligible to participate in the settlement, that's still great news. It means your personal information -- including, critically, your social security number -- wasn't exposed.
If you areeligible, your next stop is the Equifax website set up for people wishing to file a settlement claim. Even if you don't care about the cash orthe free monitoring, you should go through this process. Accepting one of the settlement options means you're waiving your right to later sue Equifax (say, if your identity is stolen). But you also waive that right if you don't go through the claims process at all by Jan. 20, 2020.
So do the thing. Most of those affected will probably want to opt for one of the two settlement awards. But which do you choose? Free money is the easy, obvious choice. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted as much on Friday, before the fine points of the cash settlement were fully understood. She later corrected herself.
SEE ALSO:Facebook's Libra is so shady it actually united CongressIn the end, you're the only one who can decide which option works best for you. I can tell you that personally, once I had a better grasp on how the cash payouts might work, I went for the free credit monitoring. Free money is enticing, but even if the $125 was a guaranteed payout, that data breach still happened and my SSN is still likely out there. I'd rather have 10 years of more robust identity theft protection.
Whatever you choose, settlement benefits won't start to be distributed until after the claims process ends in Jan. 2020. Those who opt for free credit monitoring will receive an activation code. And those who go for cash can choose between either a check or a Visa gift card.
Featured Video For You
Facebook reveals its 'privacy-focused vision for social networking'
(责任编辑:新闻中心)
- Wordle today: The answer and hints for August 29
- Amazon is reportedly putting its cameras in smart fridges now
- Manchester United make last
- [INTERVIEW] Anti
- Prime exclusive deal: $50 off Govee floor lamp
- NASA's new plan keeps Starliner astronauts in space until 2025
- N. Korea fires presumed artillery shots: S. Korean military
- North Korea seems to be using virus crisis to strengthen party control: experts
- 收入年年有增长 生活年年有变化
- 两个改造提升项目进入收尾阶段
- Scientists use seals to monitor vulnerable West Antarctic glaciers
- North Korea seems to be using virus crisis to strengthen party control: experts
- Twitter tries warning its users about Twitter
-
By a technicality, August's full moon is blue. Here's why.
There's supposedly nothing special about a blue moon. A full moon is just a moon phase, and a blue m ...[详细] -
President Moon Jae-in promised to greatly expand government support for parents with young children ...[详细]
-
US, Japan, Britain reportedly opposed S. Korea's proposal to resume humanitarian aid to NK
The United States, Japan and Britain voiced their opposition to South Korea's proposal to resume hum ...[详细] -
Here's how to stay under the radar on someone else's Netflix account
Starting at just $7.99 a month, Netflix remains as one of the cheapest options for countless hours o ...[详细] -
Yoon touts pension reform drive amid stagnant popularity rating
President Yoon Suk Yeol takes reporters' questions during a news conference after a state affai ...[详细] -
Manchester United have made an eleventh-hour bid to sign Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann, ...[详细]
-
雅安日报讯近日,省公安厅队伍建设栏目刊发题为《雅安市公安局四个坚持 精细化管理队伍》的经验材料,肯定推广我市公安局精细化管理队伍的经验做法。去年以来,市公安局党委坚持以“班子带警、制度管警、素质强警、 ...[详细]
-
民警为吴学东家送去电视机走过3座桥,绕过数不清的弯,在记者的胃开始翻江倒海的时候,此行的目的地终于到了——雨城区碧峰峡镇七老村吴学东家。5日,市公安局交警支队特勤大队的民警给吴学东送去大米、食用油等生 ...[详细]
-
I got a chance to play around with the Pixel 9 Pro XL, and man, it looks like we have to completely ...[详细]
-
如今,越来越多的人使用信用卡,但你了解你的信用记录吗?近年来,我市每年都会有一些市民的信贷申请因个人信用不过关而被银行拒绝贷款亦或是在其他银行申请不了信用卡。那么,究竟什么情况会造成信用污点,无法成功 ...[详细]
- Keurig K Mini deal — get $30 off at Target
- Seoul welcomes Abe's offer to visit during Winter Olympics
- Rivian R1T first reviews are in: A quick, quiet electric truck made for exploring nature
- Arctic cold wave to ease off Sunday
- Weather update for second Pak vs Ban second Test match day one
- Posting memes will get you banned from Instagram
- 30多家中央省市媒体聚焦我市旅游文化活动集中推介会