Equifax Breach Prompts Scrutiny, but New Rules May Not Follow
Meredith Griffanti, a spokeswoman for Equifax, said the company “works to ensure
that new legislation captures the benefits of credit reporting to the U. S. economy, as well as the effects of certain regulation on the financial system.”
“We believe in fair industry regulation,” she added, “and advocating for policies
that protect consumers’ rights, as well as the integrity of the consumer data industry.”
Congress has sounded warnings for decades.
At a congressional hearing last week, financial industry representatives pushed for legislation
that would chip away at consumer protection rules governing the three major credit reporting bureaus.
The credit bureau recently lobbied on a range of cybersecurity issues, including “data security
and breach notification,” “data breach response and identity protection” and “cybersecurity threat information sharing.”
Equifax lobbied on two bills under scrutiny at last week’s House hearing, including one called the F. C.R.
Hours later, one of the three bureaus, Equifax, disclosed a major data breach, which has
potentially compromised the sensitive personal data of more than 143 million Americans.