Cortez Masto Presses Equifax CEO

Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) took the interim CEO of Equifax to task last week when he testified before the Senate Commerce Committee. Equifax revealed in September that hackers may have compromised the sensitive information of as many as 145 million people. But Senators wanted to know why Equifax was storing information about consumers in the first place. Cortez Masto asked Paulino do Rego Barros why consumers do not have a say in opting in or out of the company's data collection. "This is part of the way the economy works," Barros said. But he was swiftly interrupted. "The consumer doesn't have a choice, sir. The consumer does not have a choice on the data that you’re collecting," Masto said. Several Senators on the panel said new legislation is needed to prod companies like Equifax to better protect consumer data. More here.