Twenty-five “data security and consumer advocacy” agencies, including the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the World Privacy Forum, co-signed a letter penned by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group to the Federal Trade Commission, urging the federal agency to launch an official investigation into the recent Experian data breach, The Guardian reports. “As you know, Experian is one of the three nationwide consumer reporting agencies, each holding data on over 200 million consumers,” the letter states. “A data security breach that affected Experian’s credit report files would be a terrifying and unmitigated disaster,” it continues. In response, an Experian spokesperson said “Experian understands the concerns raised and we are prepared to respond promptly to requests from regulatory agencies for more details about the incident.” Meanwhile, The New Yorker’s Om Malik argues that the company’s breach is just another iteration of the same grave trend.
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