What does it mean for me?

Recent hacks and data breaches with major retailers like Target, Home Depot, Wendy’s and others have put the public, credit unions and banks in a tough position. Under current law, retailers are not required to pay the costs to send individuals their new debit/credit cards, and generally pay none of the fraudulent charges hackers rack up. Who is stuck paying these costs for data breaches? Your credit union or bank — and ultimately, you.

If that sounds bad, this is even worse. When hackers steal a credit or debit card, they have access to an isolated account. They can do damage, but it’s isolated damage. With all the personal info stolen from Equifax, hackers can steal your identity. They can open new accounts, credit cards, open loans and commit tax fraud. You won’t even know about it until you’re in massive debt and it has damaged your credit.