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Equifax Must Drop Arbitration Clauses, Public Citizen Letter Demands

Sept. 8, 2017

Equifax Must Drop Arbitration Clauses, Public Citizen Letter Demands

In the wake of Equifax’s announcement that the sensitive personal information of approximately 143 million of its customers may have been obtained by hackers, Public Citizen sent a letter (PDF) to the credit monitoring company demanding that it remove clauses from its terms of service that are aimed at shielding the company from liability for claims arising out of a scandal of its own making.

The clauses include a limitation on liability that gives broad immunity to TrustedID and a forced arbitration “rip-off” clause. Forced arbitration clauses deprive customers of their day in court, instead forcing them into rigged, secretive arbitration proceedings that offer few or no options for appeal.

The letter calls on Equifax to “immediately disavow any attempt to trick customers into giving up their rights.” It follows a series of statements released earlier today from experts at Public Citizen and Americans for Financial Reform harshly criticizing Equifax’s use of arbitration clauses.

Please contact any of the individuals listed above to speak with an expert.

Update on Sept. 11: Public outrage and consumer advocacy forced Equifax’s hand, compelling Equifax to remove the forced arbitration “rip-off” clause from its TrustedID service.

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