Q: On the front page of the Metro section, Nov. 10, 2017, there was a photo of consumers presenting a petition to Equifax. The final sentence of the caption states “Consumers Union is pressing the company to take seven specific steps.” What are the seven steps CU is requesting?
—Judith M. Shelton, Duluth
A: According to Consumer Reports, the Consumers Union petition demands Equifax offer free credit freezes to customers for a period of time longer than its current offer through Jan. 31, 2018.
CU also wants Equifax to offer free credit monitoring to consumers indefinitely. It also asks Equifax to provide more detailed information about exactly what data was exposed to help consumers make decisions.
The petition calls for Equifax to remove all mandatory arbitration clauses from its terms of service pages. Demands that the company hire and train staff to process customer complaints promptly were also listed in the petition.
Finally, Consumers Union wants Equifax to establish a fund to compensate affected consumers for injuries that may result from the data breach and to commit to an independent investigation into allegations of insider trading.
Consumers Union officials delivered the petition, signed by more than 180,000 people, when they met with Equifax officials in Atlanta on Nov. 9.
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