If you are an adult human being living in the United States, Equifax is making a lot of money from your personal data (Equifax's annual revenue is $3.1 billion. Its CEO Mark Begor gets over $20 million a year in compensation). As you know, Equifax violated the trust of 147 million people in a massive data breach in 2017, opening them up to identity theft and other abuses. You've also heard that Equifax has agreed to pay everyone affected by the breach $125. That is not close to sufficient, but it's something. However, if you filed a claim for your $125, you will might be surprised that your actual check will be a fraction of that.
From Equifax's FAQ:
If there are more than $31 million claims for Alternative Reimbursement Compensation, all payments for Alternative Reimbursement Compensation will be lowered and distributed on a proportional basis.
That means you will get $125 only if fewer than 250,000 people file a claim. It's likely many more people will file a claim. Suppose 10% of those affected (14.7 million) file a claim. They'd each get a check for $2.11.
Image: Shutterstock/ESB Professional (Modified)
