I find it funny that companies like AT&T and Equifax are barely scrutinized for their data handling practices compared to the Amazon and Googles of the world. I wonder why that is.
Yes! Equifax has very lax security. Last year they leaked my social insurance number to a fraudster. When they were describing this on the phone they didn't seem to think they did anything wrong. What makes it worse is I never even gave it to them - they just get it straight from the government I guess?
My first instinct was lobbying spend, but Amazon and Google show up in the top 20 and Equifax isn't on the list (although, I have my suspicions that the numbers here aren't necessarily the whole picture. Financial chicanery is a whole industry, after all). [1]
I can imagine, though, that hiding information is a lot easier when you're less often in the public eye. Amazon and Google, through their ubiquity, have a higher hill to climb when it comes to avoiding scrutiny.
