CONSUMERS

by Equifax for more than six weeks.

Equifax officials told the GAO the company made many mistakes. Some were as simple as having an outdated list of computer system administrators. When the company circulated a notice to install a patch for the software vulnerability, the employees responsible for installing the patch never got it.

How has the breach affected consumers?

Equifax says it hasn’t seen much of an increase in identity theft, but it is difficult to tell precisely who has been affected and how.

“You cannot determine with certainty that the information will never wind up in the hands of people who are going to use it,” said Ryan Calo, a law professor at the University of Washington.

Even if the information hasn’t been used, the unease and discomfort caused by large breaches also should be taken into account, Calo said.

What would consumers get from the settlement?

Affected consumers may be eligible for up to $20,000 in reimbursements for losses from unauthorized charges, legal and other fees, credit-monitoring or identity theft protection services and expenses related to freezing or unfreezing credit reports. For the time spent dealing with the breach, consumers can seek $25 per hour for up to 20 hours as compensation.

All impacted consumers will be eligible to receive 10 years of free credit monitoring, at least seven years of free identity restoration services and, starting in 2020, six free copies of their Equifax credit report each year for seven years. That’s on top of the free copy consumers can already get by law every 12 months from each of the three big agencies — Equifax, Experian and Transunion. For minors, free credit monitoring increases to 18 years.

Consumers can opt instead for a $125 cash payment for a credit-monitoring product of their choice.

Consumers must submit a claim to receive free credit monitoring or cash reimbursements.

What can consumers do with credit reports?

Consumers should examine the listed accounts and loans to make sure the information is correct and that they authorized the transactions. If something is suspicious, contact the company that issued the account and the credit-rating agency.

Consumers should consider freezing their credit, which stops thieves from opening credit cards or loans in their names. This can be done online. Consumers can freeze their credit for free because of recent legislation, avoiding fees that were typically $5 to $10 per rating agency. Just remember to temporarily unfreeze credit — also for free — when applying for a new credit card or loan.

How can people make a claim? The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia granted preliminary approval Monday. The FTC said the initial claims period will begin Tuesday and be open for six months. The settlement administrator won’t send out any payments until the deadline has passed.

Consumers can get more information at the website created by the settlement administrator, www. equifaxbreachsettlement.com, or from the Federal Trade Commission a www.ftc.gov/equifax .

Oncetheftcsetsupitsclaims site, consumers can check there to see if they were affected by the data breach. Consumers can make a claim if they can prove they suffered identity theft “fairly traceable” to the 2017 breach or if they can document they spent time and money dealing with securing their credit because of the breach, even if they weren’t subject to identity theft. That could include signing up for monitoring services.

Consumers should sign up on the FTC website for email updates on the process. Regulators also suggest that consumers save any documents related to their efforts to avoid or recover from identity theft.