Recommended Equifax Breach Resources
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This post was automatically migrated from my old blogging software, and I have not reviewed it for problems yet. Please contact me if you notice any important issues.
I’ve re-typed the same advice and links a few times now for various friends, so in the interest of saving time here‘s a blog post.
Quick takeaways:
- Equifax's tool for checking whether you were affected has been notoriously flaky. If you’ve ever participated in the US banking/credit system, just assume your SSN, DOB, etc. was compromised.
- Changing online account passwords isn’t any more (or less) important now because of this particular breach.
- Signing up for Equifax’s free credit protection thing is better than nothing, I guess, but your personal info will now be floating around somewhere for the rest of your life, so a year of free credit monitoring is not worth a hell of a lot.
- If you sign up for credit monitoring, send a letter stating that you opt out of their arbitration clause. The company has said that clause doesn’t apply to this breach, but hey, it can’t hurt.
- Read at least the first link below.
Recommended reading:
- Brian Krebs: The Equifax Breach: What You Should Know
- Consumers Union’s Guide To Security Freeze Protection
- YSK: What your options for responding to Equifax are because if you're an American adult you have almost definitely been compromised. (read with the caveat this is advice from Reddit)
- Patrick McKenzie: Identity Theft, Credit Reports, and You
Concluding thoughts:
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ this could be a very bad thing, and there’s not a lot you as a consumer can do about it. Fuck you, Equifax.