Yahoo To Pay $50 Million, Offer Credit Monitoring For Massive Security Breach (go.com)

Yahoo has agreed to pay $50 million in damages and provide two years of free credit-monitoring services to 200 million people whose email addresses and other personal information were stolen as part of the biggest security breach in history. "The restitution hinges on federal court approval of a settlement filed late Monday in a 2-year-old lawsuit seeking to hold Yahoo accountable for digital burglaries that occurred in 2013 and 2014, but weren't disclosed until 2016," reports ABC News. From the report: Claims for a portion of the $50 million fund can be submitted by any eligible Yahoo accountholder who suffered losses resulting from the security breach. The costs can include such things as identity theft, delayed tax refunds or other problems linked to having had personal information pilfered during the Yahoo break-ins. The fund will compensate Yahoo accountholders at a rate of $25 per hour for time spent dealing with issues triggered by the security breach, according to the preliminary settlement. Those with documented losses can ask for up to 15 hours of lost time, or $375. Those who can't document losses can file claims seeking up to five hours, or $125, for their time spent dealing with the breach. Yahoo accountholders who paid $20 to $50 annually for a premium email account will be eligible for a 25 percent refund.

The free credit monitoring service from AllClear could end up being the most valuable part of the settlement for most accountholders. The lawyers representing the accountholders pegged the retail value of AllClear's credit-monitoring service at $14.95 per month, or about $359 for two years -- but it's unlikely Yahoo will pay that rate. The settlement didn't disclose how much Yahoo had agreed to pay AllClear for covering affected accountholders.

Comments

RIAA vs People

[sit1963nz]

A pirated music track is worth thousands of dollars each, you as a person are worth $0.25

What a joke.
I would suggest that people go copyright their lives, then and only then will they have value.

Credit monitoring 4 years later?

[bagofbeans]

Credit monitoring 4 years later? Wow, sounds valuable.

Re:Credit monitoring 4 years later?

[olsmeister]

Meh. I already have free credit monitoring from other breaches.

How credit monitoring is done in Belgium

[houghi]

In Belgium, if you take a credit or a loan or a debitcard or anything similar, it will be mentioned at the National Bank. The only one who has full access to all information is yourself.
Banks and credit companies have partial access to the information. What they see is the total amount the (potential) monthly payment and if there is a issue with more than 3 payments.
Nobody else has access to it.

So if you open e.g. a credit card, what they will do is see your data. Add up the monthly payments already there plus the one it would be if the current card would be maxed out.
Deduct some fixed things for living and what you said you paid for e.g. rent.

Some example. Say you earn 1.000 and you pay 500 in rent and have a debit card where the max pay would be 100. Living cost is e.g.350.
1000-500-100-350=950 That leaves 50 for the other new loan. That would be a card of e.g. 1000. A card of 1500 would be 75 per month (if used) So a 1000 card it is.

If the company gives you the 1500 and you are unable to pay, the risk is 100% for the bank/credit company.

So people will unlikely have several cards. It even happens that people who buy a house, will have to close their cards to get the mortgage from the bank.

And if you did not pay 3 months in a row, it will be mentioned and no loans for the period you ow that loan plus one year.
I have seen people who forgot to pay 30 EUR and where unable to get a mortgage because of it. That while they earned plenty to easily pay it back, but no bank would dare to touch it, because those people just could say 'I am unable to pay' and there would be very little the bank can do about that, besides asking to please pay.

I have seen court rulings where people did not had to pay they maxed out 10.000 EUR card because the company fucked up.

So not only do only credit institutions to see the info (the companies where you get a tv on 0% loan work together with credit companies who handle the credit.) and not e.g. your landlord, but it is directed to keep credits and loans handle it.

Yes, people loose their jobs and things change. In Belgium we can not look into the future yet.