This page previously provided a way to opt out of the arbitration clause in the Equifax terms of service. This is no longer necessary, as the terms of service has been changed to one without an arbitration clause.
No! As long as you are only using services from the company's Cybersecurity Incident & Information page and the free TrustedID Premier product, you are covered by a Terms of Service that does not include an arbitration clause. Equifax says “the arbitration language will not apply to any consumer who signed up before the language was removed.”
If you are using other products from Equifax.com directly, then you are still affected by the arbitration clause and can opt-out by mail by following instructions in the Terms of Service.
An arbitration clause is a statement in a legal agreement that says that any dispute arising from the agreement will be settled through arbitration instead of through the legal system. While this is a fine thing to agree to in theory, the imbalance of power between consumers and corporations means that problems arise. In Equifax's case it leaves a bad taste because it would eliminate the possibility of a future class action lawsuit, at the very moment that the company is bracing for (well-deserved) class action lawsuits over the security breach.
All opt-out requests that I received (except the ones flagged as duplicate or spam) have been printed and mailed to Equifax. There were 1,039 in all. If your tracking status is ready, it is in one of the batches.
Once I have confirmed that they have arrived through their tracking number I will purge any copies of the data that exist on my hard drive and cloud backup.
If you're curious, the old site is below, but the form is disabled.
Update #3 2017-09-12: The third and final batch is ready to mail. As Equifax has removed the arbitration clause from the terms that apply to those who sign up for the TrustedID Premier product, the vast majority of users have no need to opt out. Because of this, I am no longer taking additional submissions. Thanks for overwhelming support in standing up against forced arbitration!
Update #2 2017-09-11 (PM): The second batch is ready to mail. Good news! The Terms of Service link for Equifax's "security incident" information has changed to one that doesn't include an arbitration clause. I've asked for clarification on whether this change is retroactive.
Update #1 2017-09-11 (AM): The first batch is ready to mail. I'm seeking clarification on what people without a username can do; until then I am accepting entries without a username.
Opting out of Equifax's binding arbitration clause requires sending a statement by mail. If you fill out the form below, I (Paul Butler) will print and mail your opt-out message for you for free. There's no catch, it's just my way of pushing back against binding arbitration.
Good news! Equifax no longer includes an arbitration provision in the Terms of Service for the free credit monitoring service (TrustedID Premier) offered to victims of their data breach.
This means for the vast majority of people affected there is nothing to opt-out of, so I have discontinued this form.
[address]
If you choose to allow me to mail the opt-out form, I will print it and mail it for you. I will not otherwise sell or distribute the data to any third party in any way, or use it for any purposes other than opting you out. If you choose to print it yourself, the data will never be transmitted over the network (the mailing address will be printed as well.)
In light of Equifax's recent security breach, they are offering a year of complimentary credit monitoring services. The media have noticed that in their Terms of Service, they include a binding arbitration clause which means you give up your right to sue them in a regular court and must instead go through an arbitration process.
While the company has since clarified, under pressure, that the security breach is excluded from these terms, binding arbitration clauses are a growing trend that remove legal remedies like class action lawsuits from consumers. It is especially reptillian that they would have consumers give up their legal rights in the aftermath of a breach, for a product we only need because of the breach.
The arbitration clause has an out, in that you can opt-out within 30 days of signing up. However, opting-out requires sending a statement by mail, which is sure to dissuade a lot of people. In order to make opting-out as simple as opting-in, I created this site.
It's ultimately your judgement call, and you're right to be skeptical of a stranger on the internet. The best I can offer is that I have a long-established social media presence (Twitter, GitHub), and this isn't the first time I've used it to take a stance against legal strong-arming. If you decide not to trust me, I still encourage you to opt-out; if you use the Print button to mail the letter yourself the data will never leave your browser.