Washington, D.C. - Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) released the following statement after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and 50 U.S. states and territories announced a proposed settlement with Equifax of at least $575 million related to its 2017 data breach:
“Equifax’s data breach put over 100 million Americans at risk by exposing their social security numbers and other personal information. This settlement does not come close to making consumers whole and, once again, shows the limitations on the FTC’s ability to seek strong penalties and effective redress for consumers. It also shows that we need a comprehensive data privacy and security law to ensure companies are designing their systems to protect consumer privacy from the start, minimizing the personal information they keep, and are held appropriately accountable if they fail."
