https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/8/16276572/equifax-hack-protection-class-action-lawsuit-terms-of-service >Credit reporting agency Equifax’s July data breach leaked information on 143 million US-based people, almost half the country’s population. But if you want to be part of a class action lawsuit that was recently filed against the company, accepting its free identity protection service might make things harder. That’s because Equifax’s terms of service force users to settle complaints individually, using a common and widely criticized legal clause. This clause might not apply to the data breach, and Equifax might not intend to enforce it — but its broad ambiguity has legal experts worried. >When the leak was revealed yesterday, Equifax set up a page offering free enrollment in its TrustedID Premier monitoring service. The page asks people to enter their name and partial Social Security number to see if they’ve been affected, then tells them to come back after a stated date to enroll in protection. But visitors quickly pointed out that Equifax’s terms of service include a consumer-unfriendly piece of legalese known as an arbitration clause, which bans parties from joining class action lawsuits. If a court finds that Equifax was negligently lax with cybersecurity, people bound by the terms might be locked out of benefits, unless they file a new suit.