Capitol Notebook: $150k to Iowa from data breach settlement

Iowa will receive nearly $152,400 as part of multistate settlements totaling more than $16 million with Experian and T-Mobile over data breaches that occurred in 2012 and 2015, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller announced Monday.

Money from the settlements will support investigations and education efforts by the Consumer Protection Division of the Iowa Attorney General’s Office, according to a spokesperson.

The breaches compromised the personal information of millions of consumers, including more than 25,000 Iowans, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

The companies have also agreed to improve their data security practices and provide extended credit monitoring services to affected consumers.

The settlements require Experian, one of the big three credit reporting bureaus, to offer five years of free credit monitoring services to affected consumers, as well as two free copies of their credit reports annually during that time frame. This is in addition to the four years of credit monitoring services already offered to affected consumers.

Those who were a class member in a 2019 class action settlement with Experian, are eligible to enroll in the extended credit monitoring services, according to the Iowa Attorney General’s Office. Affected consumers can enroll in extended credit monitoring services and find more information online.

The enrollment window will remain open for six months, according to a news release.

The settlement with T-Mobile does not concern the unrelated data breach announced by the wireless carrier in August 2021, which is still under investigation by a multistate coalition of attorneys general, according to the AG’s office.

Experian has also agreed to pay an additional $1 million and strengthen its vetting and oversight of third parties that if provides personal information to resolve a separate multistate investigation over a 2012 data breach involving another Experian-owned company. The company as well agreed to report data security incidents to the attorneys general and maintain a “red flags” program to detect and respond to potential identity theft, according to a news release.

“Protecting consumers’ personal information should be a top priority, not only for credit reporting agencies, but all businesses,” Miller said in a statement. “Experian and T-Mobile have had multiple breaches in the last 10 years. The terms of this settlement will help ensure that consumers’ information will be protected from unlawful breaches in the future.”

More avian influenza cases

Two more cases of bird flu have been detected in Iowa: in a commercial flock in Wright County and a backyard flock in Louisa County.

Those cases make it four statewide during the fall migration period, after 19 cases were confirmed during the spring period, from March through May.

“Migration is expected to continue for several more weeks and whether you have backyard birds or a commercial poultry farm, bolstering your biosecurity continues to be the best way to protect your flock from this disease,” Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig said in a news release.

Naig encouraged commercial and backyard bird owners to prevent contact between their birds and wild birds.

Multiple lottery winners in Hiawatha

Two separate groups of co-workers from Hiawatha businesses split $50,000 lottery winnings late last week.

The Iowa Lottery announced that a group of 21 co-workers from the Hiawatha engineering firm Hall & Hall Engineers Inc. split $50,000 from Wednesday’s Powerball drawing. The group’s ticket was just one number from winning the $1.2 billion jackpot.

A separate group of 10 co-workers from the Hiawatha manufacturer RUD Chain also split $50,000 from Wednesday’s Powerball drawing, according to the Iowa lottery.

With no jackpot winners, the Powerball has climbed to $1.9 billion.

Gazette Des Moines Bureau