Brown, D-Ohio, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, blasted Equifax in a press release last week for putting the clause in contracts. Many of the 143 million Americans affected by the breach were likely enrolled into Equifax through their credit card company or another credit provider – meaning they may have had no idea they were using the product. That they’d be unable to seek justice in court if they were twice mistreated by the company, he said, was “shameful.”
But Brown said while the company has dropped the language forcing customers into arbitration for TrustID, it still appears to exist for other Equifax products, and urged the company to change the policy for all of its products.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – headed by former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray – is currently trying to implement a rule banning such clauses. The House earlier this year voted to undo the rule, but the Senate has yet to act. Among the companies criticized for using such clauses is Wells Fargo, which created millions of unauthorized accounts in the names of its customers.
“This is a step in the right direction, but customers cannot be sure their rights are truly protected until Equifax makes this policy clear for all products and websites,” Brown said. “The fact that it took a public shaming to force Equifax to drop forced arbitration from TrustID, is further proof why the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s rule is needed.”
Brown and a coalition of other Democratic senators Monday sent a letter to Equifax asking them to clarify terms of use for the credit monitoring and other services given to those subjected to the data breach.
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