From All Things Considered, on NPR
Equifax Continues To Scramble After Massive Breach
With Chris Arnold
We have more today from the credit bureau Equifax as it tries to contain fallout from one of the worst cybersecurity breaches ever. As many as 143 million people had their data compromised. Hackers got Social Security numbers, names, addresses, even driver's license numbers. Equifax's CEO has resigned, and now the interim CEO has announced more free help for people worried that their information may be used by criminals....
CHRIS ARNOLD: ... So we put this question to Chris Hoofnagle. He's at UC Berkeley Law School [and School of Information]. And he said at least in the existing credit lock services from Equifax and Trans Union, there is some important fine print.
CHRIS HOOFNAGLE: So you might sign up because it's free and it sounds like a good idea to protect yourself against identity theft. But if you read the fine print, you'll see that it gives these companies the ability to sell your personal information to anyone they want.
ARNOLD: So you can opt out, the company says, but Hoofnagle says many - most people don't.
