AG Healey Signs On To Consumer Credit Protection Bill In Wake Of Equifax Breach
BOSTON (CBS) -- A week after filing suit against credit reporting agency Equifax, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey is pushing for a bill that creates stricter rules on consumers' credit information.
Under the new bill, credit agencies that experience a data breach--like Equifax--would be required to pay for each Massachusetts customer's request for a credit freeze or thaw.
"The whole point of this is to make sure that you are the one in control," Healey said during a press conference Monday afternoon.
Equifax announced earlier this month that a breach exposed social security numbers and other data from about 143 million Americans.
"Equifax has to pay a major penalty for this conduct and its mistakes," Healey said.
Companies would also be required to pay for five years of a credit monitoring service.
"No more playing fast and loose with our data, with our most sensitive information," Healey said.
The bill will also impose stricter rules on the sharing of credit information--all credit reports would be encrypted, and credit companies would have to ask for the customers' permission first before accessing their credit report.
The new laws would allow customers to have three free credit reports from each credit agency per year.
Healey says that should have been the law all along.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Bernice Corpuz reports
