The Equifax Data Breach and the Resulting Legal Recourse

What happens when one’s sensitive information falls into the wrong hands? With the twenty-first century’s advancement of technology comes the increasing problem of data breaches wherein sensitive information is exposed. On September 7, 2017, Equifax, one of three major United States credit reporting agencies announced one of the largest data breaches in the history of the United States. The data breach affected approximately 145 million consumers and subsequently a wave of consumer class actions followed. This Note clarifies why class action lawsuits and arbitration are not viable legal remedies for massive data breaches where entities like credit reporting agencies are hacked, and in this instance, where Equifax was hacked. Moreover, this Note also recommends the creation of an independent victim recovery fund as a remedy for the Equifax data breach. The fund would be modeled after other successful victim compensation funds such as the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and the Deepwater Horizon Settlement Fund.