You can now file a claim for part of the $700M Equifax data breach settlement. Here’s how

People whose data was compromised when credit-reporting agency Equifax was hacked in 2017 can now file claims for part of a $700 million settlement announced earlier this week.

The data breach from mid-May through July 2017 exposed customer names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and some driver’s license numbers. It’s estimated to have affected 147 million people. That’s nearly 45 percent of the U.S. population.

The Federal Trade Commission is advising people to file claims through the settlement administrator at www.equifaxbreachsettlement.com. From there, people can submit claims requesting free credit monitoring, cash reimbursement for credit monitoring services, and compensation for lost time and money as a result of the breach.

Affected customers have until Jan. 22, 2020 to file claims. Payments from the settlement will be disbursed no earlier than Jan. 23, 2020, according to the FTC website.

The FTC website directs people to check whether they are eligible for part of the settlement at https://eligibility.equifaxbreachsettlement.com/en/eligibility.

To check eligibility through the site, people have to enter their last name and the last six digits of their Social Security number.

The site is run by the settlement administrator, not Equifax, and is a safe way for people to check whether their data was affected, California Department of Justice spokeswoman Tara Gallegos said.

People can also call 833-759-2982 for more information about the settlement and filing claims.

Equifax is expected to pay up to $425 million to affected customers, $175 million in penalties to states and $100 million to the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. As part of the settlement, the company also agreed to implement tougher security measures and reduce the use of Social Security numbers to identify customers.

It’s the largest data breach settlement ever, Stacey Schesser, supervising deputy attorney general for consumer affairs at the California Department of Justice, told reporters Monday.

Those whose data was extracted must watch for fraud and identity theft for the rest of their lives, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said. Equifax is one of only three credit agencies in the U.S., and people don’t have a say in whether those agencies collect their data, he said.

This story was originally published July 24, 2019 at 11:50 AM.