Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Denver news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Des Moines news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Minneapolis-St. Paul news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Tampa Bay news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Charlotte news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
Mike Stewart / AP
Equifax, one of the largest credit bureaus, set up a website that allows users to check whether or not their information was included in their recent cyber breach. But the Washington Post reports the legal language on this website "potentially restricts your legal rights" by essentially forcing users into an arbitration clause if they use this service.
Why it matters: 90% of U.S. citizens and Social Security Number holders use Equifax.
The problems, per ArsTechnica:
- If you use the equifaxsecurity2017.com site, you forfeit your legal right to pursue any class-action lawsuits, per the site's legal language.
- The domain to the site doesn't belong to Equifax.
- The site is hosted on the WordPress content management system, meaning it doesn't have the proper security in place, particularly for a site that hosts users' SSNs.
Getting heat: New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office demanded Equifax remove the legal language. FTC Commissioner Terrell McSweeney tweeted "people shouldn't have to trade their rights for taking steps to protect their data security after breach."