Dear Friend,

In late July 2017, Equifax executives were apparently notified by staff of a data breach that had been going on since at least mid-May. Finally, in September, they admitted to the public that the personal information of 147 million Americans was lost to hackers in one of our country's worst data breaches of all time -- the Equifax breach.1

Now, Equifax is expected to pay about $650 million, some of which will go to settle claims from consumers after its data breach which occurred more than two years ago. But this isn't enough, especially for a company that failed to do its basic job: protect consumer data.

Right now, our national network's advocates are working to make sure our most sensitive personal information is protected -- including convincing Congress to pass the Data Breach Prevention and Compensation Act, re-introduced by Sens. Mark Warner and Elizabeth Warren, which would be a strong step in the right direction.2

But we can't do this work without you. Donate today to support our efforts to pass this bill, and all of our work to stand up for the public interest.

U.S. PIRG is working with our national network to pass this bill and ensure Equifax and other companies take our data security seriously by:

• Lobbying legislators on both sides of the aisle to pass this bill, which would protect consumers.
• Sending decision-makers tens of thousands of messages from supporters like you, urging them to take action before there is another breach.
• Educating the public on the importance of this bill and of additional consumer protections for our personal data.
• Calling on the Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to closely monitor the way Equifax implements the increased data security requirements of the settlement order.
• Keeping millions of people informed about the best ways to protect themselves, their personal information and their credit after data breaches -- including how to freeze their credit (which is now free for everyone, everywhere, in part based on our advocacy).

As more and more information about our lives is collected, analyzed and sold by massive financial institutions, we need protections to make sure our most sensitive information is handled responsibly -- and that there are consequences for companies that put our data at risk.

Friend, we need the support of people like you in order to have the resources to protect our most sensitive data and hold companies like Equifax truly accountable. Support our work today.

Equifax is in the business of buying and selling our most personal and private information -- and it should pay a price for not keeping it safe and take the right steps to make sure another breach doesn't happen in the future. But with this new settlement, Equifax can continue to do business more or less as usual as millions of Americans are dealing with the consequences.

This legislation could help prevent another Equifax-like hack from happening in the future and would ensure that if breaches occur at a large credit bureau, the company responsible is held accountable and consumers affected are rightly compensated.3

Our national network is working to convince our national lawmakers to take clear action to protect consumers and our data instead of doing favors for the data dealing companies. But we can't do this or any of our work without your support. Donate today.

Thank you,

Faye Park
President

1. Stacy Cowley, "Equifax to Pay at Least $650 Million in Largest-Ever Data Breach Settlement," The New York Times, July 22, 2019.
2. "Warner, Warren Reintroduce Legislation to Hold Equifax, Other Credit Reporting Agencies Accountable for Data Breaches," Mark R. Warner, May 7, 2019.
3. "Warren, Warner Unveil Legislation to Hold Credit Reporting Agencies Like Equifax Accountable for Data Breaches," warren.senate.gov, January 10, 2018.