Equifax makes the ID protection process difficult

This letter is in response to Carole McIntyre’s letter (“Equifax Data Breach,” Sept. 14) about trying to sign up for the TrustedID protection that Equifax has offered to not just those who have been hacked but also to the general public.

The other day, I too signed up for the protection after discovering that I was breached. It was definitely not an easy experience, and I’m fairly techsavvy. The process by which you can enroll begins with discovering if you’ve been hacked, then Equifax will send you an email on which specific day you can enroll — supposedly to alleviate too much traffic to the website.

Well, I tried Thursday, the day after I was “assigned” when to enroll. There were so many dead ends and obstacles to actually enroll in TrustedID (by the way, an Equifax company) that I’m sure it was only by accident that I was able to get the protection.

I was asked to change email addresses, reset passwords and ended up at so many dead pages it became my life’s goal to conquer this madness.

Bottom line: Equifax publicly is being the generous corporate citizen by offering free protection to everyone, not just those compromised. The reality is that the majority of people trying to sign up for this will give up after several misdirections and obstacles. Shame on you, Equifax. LISA WITTIG

White Oak in local elections, we need to look past party affiliations and to just the candidate.

My experience on O’Hara council for eight years taught me several things. First, two terms on council gave me plenty of time to introduce and advocate for my ideas. I made a conscious decision not to run for a third term in order to allow folks to partake in the eyeopening world of local government.

Second, most of the decisions reached by council had little to do with which party we were affiliated with, but with what was best for the community at large. Clearly all of us are busy with family and job obligations, but the residents of my township entrust council to conduct business transparently, efficiently and ethically on their behalf.

That’s exactly what I intend to do if I am elected to Allegheny County Council as the representative of District 3 (Aspinwall, Sharpsburg, O’Hara, Fox Chapel, Shaler, Reserve, Etna, West Deer, Millvale, Hampton and Indiana Township). ANITA PRIZIO O’Hara

I realize that Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority has monumental tasks ahead of it and a really long list of problems to solve, but perhaps big problems can begin to be solved by correcting a few small things.

For example, for at least the past 12 years, I have driven past the plant on Freeport Road across from Waterworks Mall

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and I see two large flood lights left on all day long, 24/7, yearround. It is a well-accepted fact that exterior lights should not be on during the day. There are many easy ways to correct this such as timers, photocells and commonsense use of existing switches.

When I called PWSA to alert it to this, I was told the lights were needed for security. It was lost on the staffer that security lights do not add any value in broad daylight. If we are ever to make a dent in our quest to reduce energy use and the pollution associated with it, we need to start with the most obvious wasteful practices. THOMAS O. GRAY O’Hara