Still have questions about Equifax a year later? We have the answers

The traditional theme of the first wedding anniversary is "paper". With regard to this first anniversary, we hope you have not lost.

Exactly one year ago the Equifax Credit Bureau

EFX + 0.57%

publicly announced that hackers had access to the personal information of millions of people whose credit reports were archived by the company.

Since then, legislators have introduced new laws to protect consumer data, but there is still a lot of confusion.

"A year later, more and more people know that credit bureaus exist," said Mike Litt, director of the consumer campaign for PIRG, a non-profit consumer group. "Unfortunately, I think people are still unsure of everything they can do to better protect themselves."

You probably still have questions, and here are the answers to some of them:

How many people has the Equifax breach affected?

This is difficult because several different numbers have been reported. An Equifax spokesperson said the final figure indicated the violation affected 145.5 million people in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. About two-thirds of American adults were affected.

How many people have actually frozen their credit?

After the violation was revealed, the experts recommended that people freeze their credit file, which means that no one could access the information contained in the report without their permission.

In the absence of a freeze, any company planning to lend you money can review the details of your credit report, which includes many details that are useful to identity thieves, such as your social security number and your personal history. addresses.

In theory, blocking and freezing prevent new creditors from giving a fraudster a credit card or other account on your behalf. Instead of automatically approving the application, they must contact the person who has frozen or locked and confirm their identity.

It does not seem that many people have followed this advice. Only 12% of those surveyed said they had "blocked" a credit account and only 8% said they had "frozen" a credit account, according to a new survey of 1,000 people by the credit comparison site. CompareCards.com.

Locking provides frost-like protections, but when credit bureaus allow consumers to "lock" their accounts, they generally allow them to "unlock" them by using an online platform or application.

Freezing is regulated by states and consumers can not generally freeze and unblock their accounts at their discretion; they must use a PIN code. Credit locks sometimes accompany a monthly fee, while the credit freeze only costs one tax.

In fact, freezing your account is "the most proactive thing you can do," said Adam Levin, founder of the CyberScout security company and author of "Swiped." "It is imperative that you know as soon as possible that you have a plan," he said.

In contrast, 65% of those surveyed said they had reviewed their bank account and credit card statements online more frequently since the violation. And 51% said they checked their credit score – a small percentage, given the number of people affected.

When your identity is stolen, it can take years to fix the problem. An identity thief can make purchases, open new accounts and even commit crimes while using your name and personal data.

If I have not yet frozen my credit accounts, am I too late?

It's not too late – you should always freeze them, said Levin. Fraudsters who originally owned the Equifax data may have resold them to other criminals, he added. This means that there is a risk that your personal information will fall into the wrong hands at any time, so that consumers must monitor their credit closely and take all possible preventive measures.

That said, it is understandable that many consumers are jaded, he said. Equifax is not the first company to experience a data breach, so most consumers are "tired of the violations" and expect that their personal information is likely to be available on the Internet.

If you want help that goes beyond freezing or locking your account, it may pay to contact your insurance company, the financial services institution with which you have an account, or even the HR department of your account. office.

The number of companies that offer protection against identity theft to their employees increases as a result of the violation.

What happens with the legislation regarding the violation?

In May, as part of the dismantling of the Dodd-Frank Act, Congress released the credit freeze for all consumers. President Donald Trump signed the bill on May 24.

Before the law was promulgated, the states regulated the amount each office could charge to freeze and unblock an account, which usually cost between $ 3 and $ 10.

Consumers should keep in mind that this national law applies only to information to which creditors have access during credit checks. It does not protect employment checks or insurance checks, Litt said, which some states have already released by law.

There is another bill, which Senator Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat, sponsored and introduced in January 2018. It is called the 2018 Data Protection and Prevention Act. Commission for the supervision of data security in credit reporting agencies, according to Warren.

It would also impose penalties on credit reporting agencies for any breach that endangers the sensitive data of consumers. But this bill has not gone beyond the Senate.

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