Keller Rohrback Investigates Equifax Data Breach
September 11, 2017
Equifax, the credit reporting agency, has disclosed what some are calling the worst consumer data breach in history.
What makes this data breach particularly bad is “the breath-taking amount of highly sensitive data it handed over to criminals,” including potentially the names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, and addresses of 143 million Americans – approximately 40 percent of the U.S. population. In addition, the company reports that security questions and answers used to verify users’ identities may also have been exposed.
Equifax’s response to the breach has also been troubling, including the use of a reportedly insecure website and issuing terms of service that state victims are required to waive their right to sue in order to sign up for identity protection.
On Sept. 11, 2017, Keller Rohrback L.L.P. filed a class action complaint in a federal court in California against Equifax Inc., one of the nation’s three major credit reporting agencies that trades the information of tens of millions of Americans.
In this class action complaint, the Plaintiffs seek to represent a class of persons defined as:
“All natural persons in the United States whose personally identifying information (“PII”) was compromised as a result of the Data Breach.”
The Plaintiffs are pursuing claims, on behalf of a proposed class, against Equifax for breaching its duty to safeguard and protect the PII of the Plaintiffs and the proposed class members; injunctive relief that will stop Equifax from continuing its deceptive, fraudulent and unfair business practices; restitution and/or disgorgement and compensatory damages for the economic losses and the out-of-pocket costs; and treble damages applicable under state and federal laws.
The litigation is a proposed class action. No specific class or subclasses have been certified by the Court. If a class becomes certified, eligible class members will be notified when the Court authorizes a form of notice. You may view the Class Action Complaint and other information available on our website here.
Please note that we are unable to respond to any questions with respect to the status of the personal identifying information (PII) for any specific individual possessed or maintained by Equifax Inc. and whether that PII was subject to this 2017 breach. PII can be names, addresses, Social Security numbers and other forms of unique identifiers or data.
Please be advised that we are not accepting the opportunity for representing individual persons or accepting individual cases, and we cannot provide any legal advice with respect to any potential claims as an individual.
Keller Rohrback has a long track-record of success with data breach litigation, including the Ninth Circuit case Krottner v. Starbucks, where the court held that the theft of a laptop containing employees’ personally identifiable information sufficed to confer Article III standing on plaintiffs. The firm has served in leadership roles in the Sony Data Breach case, which received final settlement approval, as well as in the 21st Century Oncology, VTech Electronics and Experian data breach cases. In addition, Keller Rohrback also represents plaintiffs in the Target consumer data breach litigation, as well as the data breach cases pending against Vizio, Anthem Inc., Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, and Medical Informatics Engineering.
Keller Rohrback, with offices in New York, Seattle, Phoenix, Oakland, Ronan and Santa Barbara, serves as lead and co-lead counsel in class actions throughout the country. Our Complex Litigation Group is proud to offer its expertise to clients nationwide, and our trial lawyers have obtained judgments and settlements on behalf of clients in excess of seven billion dollars.
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Protecting your private information
The Federal Trade Commission provides information and tips on how to protect yourself against fraudulent credit card charges.
For immediate steps to repair identity theft, click here.
For information on how to keep your personal information secure, including securing your social security number, click here.
For information regarding freezing your credit, click here.
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