The General Insider - Volume 71
Securing Funds and Protection For Mississippians Affected by Experian and T-Mobile Data Breaches
Earlier this month, with a coalition of other Attorneys General, I announced multistate settlements with Experian and T-Mobile concerning data breaches in 2012 and 2015 that compromised the personal information of millions of consumers nationwide, including 89,046 Mississippians. Under the settlements, the companies have agreed to improve their data security practices and to pay the states a combined amount of more than $16 million. Mississippi will receive a total of $175,612.90 from the settlements.
Your identity is your most valuable possession, and my office will help to protect it. But we need companies to exercise vigilance as well. I am pleased that through these settlements, both Experian and T-Mobile have agreed to enhanced due diligence, vendor oversight, and data security practices.
Amongst the improvements, Experian has agreed to:
T-Mobile has agreed to detailed vendor management provisions designed to strengthen its vendor oversight going forward, including imposition of contractual data security requirements on T-Mobile’s vendors and sub-vendors, such as those related to segmentation, passwords, encryption keys, and patching.
The settlement also requires Experian to offer 5 years of free credit monitoring services to affected consumers, as well as two free copies of their credit reports annually during that timeframe. Affected consumers can enroll in the 5-year extended credit monitoring services and find more information on eligibility here. The enrollment window will remain open for 6 months.
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Settlement with Oasis Financial
Earlier this month, I also announced that Mississippi entered settlement with Oasis Financial, a company that provides pre-settlement funding for individuals with claims for benefits under the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Act. The settlement resolves the State and Oasis’s disagreement that such funding in the context of workers’ compensation claims is not lawful under Mississippi statutes.
We were pleased to work with Oasis and their legal team to reach this settlement. We do not dispute that the type of services Oasis and similar companies offer can be a big help to a family awaiting a legal settlement while medical or other bills pile up. In fact, neither our settlement nor our case was about those types of services overall.
As part of the settlement, $1 million will be put into a settlement fund out of which approximately 2,225 of Oasis’ Mississippi worker’s compensation clients will receive payments. The dollar value of those payments will be based on the total amount paid to Oasis on those fundings. Eligible individuals will be contacted and receive a Notice of Settlement and Claim Election Form via USPS at their last known address, according to Oasis’ records. Eligible individuals will have six months following the mailing of the Notice of Settlement and Claim Election Form to opt into the settlement fund.
Additionally, Oasis will forego collection of any amounts currently owed by 529 Mississippi clients with a claim for benefits under the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Act. These clients will receive notice of the forgiveness of their obligation in the mail. Oasis has agreed to refrain from providing legal funding to individuals with claims for benefits under the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Act going forward.
If you believe you may be eligible and have not received any notification within the next 60 days please contact the Consumer Protection Division of my office at 601-359-3680 or consumer@ago.ms.gov.
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Human Trafficking Victims Fund Application Open until November 23
On November 1, 2022, the applications for the first distributions from the Victims of Human Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation Fund became available. As much as $2.5 million will be available for organizations that provide services to victims of human trafficking. Watch my interview with Y’all Politics’ Sarah Ulmer about this important funding opportunity.
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Historic Settlement with Google over Location Tracking Practices
Earlier this week, I announced that Mississippi, along with 39 other Attorneys General, reached a $391.5 million multistate settlement with Google over its location tracking practices relating to Google Account settings. Mississippi will receive $6,026,914.88 from the settlement.
Location tracking can be used to reveal a lot about the consumer, and it can leave a person exposed to identity theft or other fraud. But even when it is part of a legitimate marketing purpose, the consumer needs to be able to make an informed decision about how their location data is used. It is your personal data and you have the right to decide if and how it can be used.
Location data is a key part of Google’s digital advertising business. Google uses the personal and behavioral data it collects to build detailed user profiles and target ads on behalf of its advertising customers. Location data is among the most sensitive and valuable personal information Google collects. Even a limited amount of location data can expose a person’s identity and routines and can be used to infer personal details.
Our investigation focused on two Google account settings: Location History and Web & App Activity. Location History is “off” unless a user turns on the setting, but Web & App Activity, a separate account setting, is automatically “on” when users set up a Google account, including all Android phone users. The settlement requires Google to be more transparent with consumers about its practices, limits Google’s use and storage of certain types of location information, and requires Google account controls to be more user-friendly.
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Defending the States' Authority Over Their National Guard Units
Yesterday, I led an 11-state coalition to protect the Constitution’s checks and balances that guarantee both security and liberty. We filed a merits-stage amicus brief at the Supreme Court of the United States supporting the Ohio National Guard in its challenge to a Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) order enforcing collective bargaining for its Guard technicians.
As has been the case with so many of the careful balances the Founding Fathers laid out in our Constitution, the federal government has been slowly tipping the scales in its own favor. With this brief, we take a stand against this continued erosion of the checks and balances that keep us both free and secure.
Detailing the historical trend eroding state control over state National Guard units in favor of greater federal authority, even for no legitimate military purpose, my fellow Attorneys General and I wrote in our brief, “The decision below... permits the national government to exert day-to-day control over a state Guard. It mandates how an Adjutant General works with labor unions, bargains, and promotes. It allows this intrusion into state functions on matters unconnected to national defense or the battlefield.”