Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey yesterday filed a lawsuit against Equifax over the company’s failure to protect consumers’ personal information, the first official enforcement action brought against the hacked credit-reporting company, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The complaint, filed in Suffolk Superior Court, alleges Equifax violated Massachusetts consumer protection and data privacy laws due to the massive breach that exposed vital personal information of potentially 143 million Americans. The attorney general alleges that nearly three million Massachusetts residents’ personal information was potentially compromised by the hack. The Massachusetts action is just the first part of what is expected to be a legal wave that will eventually hit the company. Dozens of attorneys general from other states, including Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois and Connecticut, have asked Equifax for information about the hack and its response. The Federal Trade Commission and Federal Bureau of Investigation are investigating as well.
