Submission Number: 00007 

Received: 10/17/2012 9:16:02 AM
Commenter: Michael Weinacht
Organization: 
State: Oklahoma

Agency: Federal Trade Commission
Initiative: Proposed Consent Agreement In the Matter of Equifax Information Services LLC; FTC File No. 102 3252
Attachments: No Attachments
Submission Text
There should be a requirement of notice to ALL persons whose information was illegally given to third parties. Also, there should be a requirement that this be more readily published for consumer awareness. The Federal Register is not available to everyone, and most people don't understand what information is published in it. This should be published in newspapers and required as a public service announcement on radio and television. This will permit the affected individuals to file an appropriate class action lawsuit against Equifax and all third parties who got the information illegally. Then, and only then, will the consumer be fully protected from this abuse in the future. As a consumer, I have no way of knowing if my personal information was given to third parties, and therefore I am denied due process. A person's credit worthiness is affected for at least seven years based on information distributed by Equifax. Equifax, and any third party who illegally received the information from Equifax, should be suspended from operation for at least seven years. The present consent order requires a minimal fine of $300,000.00, which isn't enough to cause any concern for a business as large as Equifax. Make the fine in the millions, for all companies concerned, which would be a true deterent to future violations. Of course, they should be put out of business for violation of the public trust. If you don't put them out of business, at least remove the Board of Directors from Equifax and put in a Trustee to oversee the company for seven years to make sure the Consent Order is followed. Show the American people who are most affected by this violation that their government truly wants to protect them from future violations. The current Consent Order does nothing to instill confidence in the government.