At least eight credit union leagues from all over the country are now plaintiffs in CUNA’s recent lawsuit against Equifax over the credit bureau’s huge data breach that exposed personal financial information for millions of people.
The Pennsylvania Credit Union Association, Mountain West Credit Union Association and the Nebraska Credit Union League are among the latest to join the growing class-action suit over Equifax’s enormous data breach announced September 7.
The three leagues had harsh words about Equifax in their announcements.
“We have not seen a data breach of this magnitude before and the potential impacts to credit unions and their members is unprecedented,” Mountain West Credit Union Association President and CEO Scott Earl said. “The Association joined this suit both to help protect our affiliated credit unions and to hold Equifax accountable for the fallout from this breach. Protecting members is a top priority of all credit unions. We may not know the full impact of this extensive breach for years. The costs to credit unions will be significant.”
“The Equifax breach has harmed and will continue to harm our credit unions and their members,” Nebraska Credit Union League CEO Scott Sullivan remarked. “We refuse to sit idly by as our credit unions begin to bear the long-term financial cost and personnel burden from Equifax’s breach and are pleased to join with CUNA in taking this action on our members’ behalf.”
“We believe it is our responsibility to protect credit unions and their members, that have recognized financial losses as a result of the Equifax data breach,” Pennsylvania Credit Union Association President & CEO Patrick Conway stated. “Representing credit unions in this manner will ensure they have a voice as Equifax is held accountable for current damages, future losses, and data security risks.”
Five other leagues are also party to CUNA’s suit.
The League of Southeastern Credit Unions and Affiliates joined on October 4. The Credit Union Association of New Mexico, the California-Nevada Credit Union League and the Michigan Credit Union League joined the suit in October as well. The Illinois Credit Union League also recently announced that it is a plaintiff in the suit.
Several credit unions have also joined CUNA’s suit; other credit unions have brought separate suits as well.
The Equifax breach, announced September 7, was first thought to affect 143 million U.S. consumers. Compromised information primarily includes names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and in some cases driver’s license numbers. The breach also jeopardized credit card numbers for about 209,000 people, as well as dispute documents for about 182,000 consumers. A subsequent forensic investigation announced on October 2 found that an additional 2.5 million U.S. consumers were affected, bringing to the total to 145.5 million people.
