[ClumsyPilot]

The problem is that they do not take any responsibility for the negligence and breach of contract - they were obligated to keep my data secure, they didn't, I might get defrauded now and they will never compensate me or anyone else.

[JumpCrisscross]

> might get defrauded now and they will never compensate me or anyone else

If you're defrauded because of a leak, you have a claim for compensation. The problem is we have scant evidence these leaks cause consumer damages. There is the attribution problem–tying an instance of fraud to a particular breach is hard. But it's not so hard that we'd expect to see virtually zero cases.

What's more likely is having a list of credit card or even social security numbers is less useful than it might seem. To the degree fraud exists, consumers are largely indemnified, e.g. by card issuers.

[RHSeeger]

I think you are, to some extent, making the cost look smaller than it is. Lets assume that someone gets enough of your info to take a loan out in your name. You can _probably_ (but not definitely) get that loan invalidated. However, to get back where you started, you may need to

- Convince the loaner that it was not you, which could cost many hours on the phone

- Get the credit impacts removed from your credit report, which could take many hours on the phone and web sites

- Retain a lawyer for dealing with the loaner

- Pay for any externalities in the process (mailing things registered, etc)

The above things can add up to days or even weeks of real, physical time; time which should be valued at no less than whatever you actually earn per hour. Plus the money for the lawyer.

And then, on top of that, it's widely considered that going through that process, where nearly everyone involved is incentivized to treat you as a lying thief and/or ignore you, can be fairly traumatic.

The cost is tremendous, and the emotional impacts can last for a long time.

[ClumsyPilot]

this happened to my friend, someone took out a loan in his name, there were databreaches at over 4 companies with his data. good luck provi g which one is to blame