Equifax settles with FTC, CFPB, states, and consumer class actions for $700m

Equifax doxed virtually every adult in America as well as millions of people in other countries like the UK and Canada. The breach was caused by an acquisition spree in which the company bought smaller competitors faster than it could absorb them, followed by negligence in both monitoring and responses to early warnings. Execs who learned of the breach used it as an opportunity to engage in insider trading, while failing to take action to alert the public. Equifax nonconsensually gathers dossiers on everyone it can, seeking the most sensitive and potentially damaging information to record. The company was founded as part of a corporate spy-ring employed to root out and identify political dissidents and sexual minorities.

Despite Equifax's assurances to the contrary, there's scant evidence it's done anything to prevent future breaches.

The company used the breach as a chance to lock Americans into years of payments for credit-monitoring services.

Equifax's market cap stands today at $16.6B, and it posted $3.412B in earnings in 2018, up 1.48% increase from 2017.

The company has settled virtually all the civil liability from its breach for $700m. The victims of the breach have effectively unlimited, permanent liability from this breach and will face identity theft, fraud and stalking risks for the rest of their lives -- and after they die, their estates will also be under threat from the breach.

The settlement covers federal liability from the FTC and CFPB, class action suits, and most state attorneys general actions.

Elizabeth Warren, who hopes to be the Democratic presidential nominee, has called for criminal prosecutions of the Equifax execs. Read the rest