The former CEO of Equifax, Rick Smith, will appear before three committees on Capitol Hill this week. Smith will testify about the more than 145 million customers affected by the company’s massive data breach, which Equifax announced in September.
How to Watch the Equifax Hearing
Today at 10 a.m. EST, Smith will appear in front of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
CSPAN 3 will air the hearing and livestreams are available at cspan.org and the committee’s website.
Hearings Later This Week
Later this week, Smith will appear in front of the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee.
On Wednesday at 10 a.m. EST, the former CEO will face questions the Senate Banking committee and the oversight hearing held by the House Financial Services Committee will begin at 9:15 a.m. EST on Thursday.
Some legislators have been particularly outspoken about the breach and the way the company has handled it. Below are a few key senators and representatives to watch.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Ca.)
“I have long advocated for an overhaul of our nation’s credit reporting system and I will reintroduce legislation that will enhance consumer protection tools available to minimize harm caused by identity theft,” she said in a statement about the hack.
She called for Equifax to offer free credit freezing to Americans affected by the breach. Rep. Waters will be reclaiming her time from Smith on Thursday when he appears in front of the Financial services committee.
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hi.)
Senator Schatz, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, has been very outspoken about the Equifax breach, calling for the company to waive fees and allow customers to freeze their credit for free.
If half of those hit by breach buy "credit freeze" then Equifax makes $700 million off their own mistake. That's a ripoff. Waive the cost!
— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) September 11, 2017
He also introduced the FREE Act, meant to help Americans catch and correct credit report errors, along with Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)
Senator Warren called out Equifax for the way they’ve treated customers in the wake of the data breach.
“Equifax and the other credit reporting agencies don’t pay you when they sell your data. You shouldn’t have to pay to stop them from selling it,” she wrote in an essay for Fortune.
She’ll have the chance to question Smith on Wednesday when he testifies in front of the Senate Banking Committee.
