"US States Announce $16M Settlement With Experian, T-Mobile Over Data Breaches"
Recently, authorities in 40 US states have reached a settlement totaling more than $16 million with Experian and T-Mobile over data breaches suffered by the companies in 2012 and 2015. The multi-state settlement with Experian totals more than $13.67 million, and the settlement with T-Mobile is for $2.5 million. In addition, each company has agreed to take steps to improve their data security practices. The attorneys general in several states published press releases announcing how much they will each receive from these settlements. Hawaii, for instance, is getting roughly $180,000, Massachusetts will receive over $625,000, New Jersey $500,000, Pennsylvania $460,000, Michigan $360,000, and Nebraska will get $140,000. The settlement is related to two cybersecurity incidents. As part of the settlement, Experian will need to implement a comprehensive information security program and take other steps to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future. Experian will also be required to offer impacted consumers five years of free credit monitoring services. As for T-Mobile, the company must strengthen third-party oversight to ensure that vendors handling its customers’ data can protect the sensitive information they are entrusted with.