Equifax Archives - Americans for Financial Reform

Take Action: Don’t hurt the credit of workers who lost wages

The shutdown is over (for now), but the pain it is STILL creating for workers is very real. It caused many federal workers and employees of federal contractors to miss payments on their car loans, credit cards, or mortgages. That’s why we are urging the credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — to proactively remove any negative information that appears during the shutdown period from consumer credit reports for workers affected by the shutdown.

Joint Letter: Letter to CRAs urging credit relief for federal workers impacted by government shutdown

Letter to CRAs urging them to take steps to protect the credit reports of federal workers affected by the government shutdown

Joint Letter: 28 organizations sent a letter to Congress urging opposition to HR 6743, The Consumer Information Notification Requirement Act

AFR joined 27 organizations in signing onto this letter drafted by US PIRG urging the House Financial Services Committee to oppose HR 6743, a bill that replaces an existing narrow preemption provision with a sweeping provision that could not only eliminate all state data breach notice, data security and other privacy laws as they apply to financial institutions as broadly defined, but also forestall further state innovation to protect their citizens from future privacy and data security threats. One year after the Equifax breach, we are especially concerned that the committee is considering weakening data security and data breach laws, instead of strengthening them or passing legislation to make companies like Equifax more accountable to their victims.

AFR Statement: Statement on Appointment of Andrew Smith as Head of FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection

For its Head of Consumer Protection, the FTC chose a lawyer, Andrew Smith, who worked for both payday lenders and Equifax. The FTC needs a someone with a record of consumer protection, not yet another industry lawyer

AFR Statement: Report Mulvaney Backing Away from Equifax Probe Shows Need for Credible CFPB Director

It’s one more reason why it’s so important to have someone with a track record of protecting consumers running the CFPB, not someone who wants to destroy its work.

Joint Statement: Groups Demand to Know How Much Money Credit Bureaus Will Make Off Data Breach

American for Financial Reform, the Consumer Federation of America, the National Consumer Law Center, U.S. PIRG, and other nonprofit advocacy groups wrote a letter to the CEOs of all three companies asking for detailed information on how the data breach might be leading to higher revenues in credit freeze fees and credit monitoring services.

AFR Letter: How Much Will Credit Bureaus Make Off Equifax Data Breach?

American consumers deserve to know how much money the big three credit bureaus — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion — will make due to the devastating data breach at Equifax.

AFR Statement: Senate Dodd-Frank Changes Would Benefit Banks Not Look Out for Consumers

Congress ought to be passing robust new consumer protections, not doing favors for banks. Annual industry earnings by banks set a new record in 2016, and community banks saw even faster growth than big banks. Over 95 percent of community banks turned a profit last year.

AFR Statement: Equifax Earnings Highlight Broken Model of Credit Reporting

The hack may even have been a boon to the bottom line of credit reporting companies, which charge consumers to freeze their credit report or monitor their credit, even though consumers are seeking these protections due to this massive breach.

AFR Statement: Monopoly Man Highlights Need for Congress to Act on Consumer Rights

But the question is, what will Congress do after a hearing on data breaches? Will they act to restore our right to control information about our own lives, and protect our privacy, or will they let Equifax and other data brokers turn the problems they caused into an excuse for undermining existing state laws with a sham weaker federal standard that replaces them? Will they restrict access to the courts?