50 Attorneys General Secure $600 Million In Settlement With Equifax

By Chloe Jones
Published: Monday, July 22, 2019 - 12:30pm
Updated: Monday, July 22, 2019 - 1:34pm
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Arizona is among 48 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to secure a $600 million settlement from credit rating agency Equifax for the massive data breach in 2017.

In 2017, an Equifax data breach led to more than half of American adults’ sensitive information, like Social Security, credit card and driver's license numbers, being exposed. Nearly 3 million of those live in Arizona. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said that the multistate settlement was a success.

“Anytime you get a large group of attorneys general, both Republican and Democrat, agreeing on something, I think that's a sign that what happened was very fair," Brnovich said. 

As part of the settlement, Equifax must offer free credit card monitoring to affected customers for 10 years, in addition to paying restitution to them and adding several security practices. Affected customers are encouraged to file a claim online.

Brnovich said that the settlement was not only to hold Equifax accountable but to set a precedent for corporate America.

“We will not tolerate people putting profits above the people. It's a wake-up call to let corporate America know that they better protect consumers data and information or else the state attorney general is coming after you, simple as that," he said.

Brnovich said corporate America should notify consumers about what information is being collected and for what purpose. He also calls for companies to notify consumers immediately when they discover a data breach.