The Equifax breach was an eye-opening breach in the eyes of many people. Many felt helpless in a way that they hadn’t before because it felt as if they had been stripped of all security. This company is not one that can simply be opted out of because it is one of three companies that controls the ability to buy a house, buy a car, or receive a loan in America. The fix was to offer a monitoring service, but after the breach is too late. This is considered damage control, not internet safety. This breach hurt everyone who relies on credit in their lives because in order to access the information to see if a person had been breached, a person would have to enter the last six digits of their social security number into the website which left people even more wary considering the circumstances. This breach affected the majority of the adult world due to the implications of leaked credit data and the ramifications of what could be done with the information had it been leaked. This harm is morally bad because it is up to companies, such as Equifax, to protect users and not simply shrug their shoulders at a breach and continue on with business as usual. In this Case Analysis I will argue that Contractarian theory shows us that the Equifax branch harmed all people by allowing a data leak and that this was morally bad.

               Friedman discusses the social responsibility of a business, or the leader of a business, to protect not only the employees but each and every person that is affected by the business decisions made. This is due to the moral code that is expected of people that have been given the opportunity to lead a company. The Equifax breach did not do that and even went as far as selling stock after the breach, although they claimed to have no knowledge of the breach at that time. If it is assumed that the truth is being told then no laws are broken, but why would the company not be aware of such a major breach in their security systems? Equifax had the responsibility to protect the information of millions of people and instead, after the information was breached, they attempted to charge individuals to freeze their accounts to protect their assets from potentially being stolen by criminals. This lack of transparency and effectiveness as a business put many people at risk and did not follow social responsibility at all. The lack of care and compassion for the consumers utilizing their services was not there and were simply left high and dry without a way to turn. Equifax will still be utilized after the breach and now, because of their lack of responsibility, will continue to put user information at risk.

               Friedman also discusses conformity in the political aspect. This Equifax breach may have conformed to how other businesses have handled breaches, but due to their large reach across different people, businesses, and ability to generate income, they should not simply follow the lead of a smaller, less important company. This breach does not conform to what is expected of the businesses that hold livelihoods in their hands and instead, Equifax chose to attempt to profit from their own mistake. This led to the company being forced to conform to what the people wanted when they chose to fight about having to pay Equifax to have their accounts frozen and the services were eventually offered for free. The need to conform for a business is directly related to how they will be viewed after the scandal is finished, and although Equifax was essentially forced to make this decision, it did choose the right path when doing so. Conforming to what is needed for the people is the social responsibility of a company such as Equifax and is necessary to attempt to gain trust back within the company.

               The contractarian theory is based on the social contract that we all know exists as being important to everything that we do. This view of morality is fitting to this case because of the lack of care that was initially established by Equifax when charging consumers to fix the company’s mistake and the reality that it has to be changed after a short time. Equifax has an unspoken social contract with society to protect the information that they store because people’s livelihoods depend on the information that the company has stored within their systems. The right thing to do in this case would have been to tackle the problem head-on and immediately offer solutions for consumers who were affected. Securing information, notifying those who had been hacked, offering to lock down their credit for free with monitoring for the foreseeable future, and anything else that could be done to make people feel safe when their personal data had been leaked would have been the correct steps to take but unfortunately, Equifax did not immediately take those steps.

               The conceptual shift that Anshen discusses in relation to the economic progress and social progress aligning meant a different world that older companies could not as easily adjust to. If the Equifax breach had happened decades ago, it would not matter nearly as much what people thought about it and would have instead been focused on the company and how to reap benefits from the breach and economically stay ahead. This view has led many companies to fail, hence the shift into the social atmosphere mattering just as much as the economic side of the business. With the breach in Equifax, they failed from the social standpoint until the company had no choice but to bend because of the social pressures from not only the people affected but the rest of the world who had an opinion on the matter. This led Equifax to decide to acknowledge both sides of the coin matter and take steps to recover from the breach both socially and economically. Equifax had a choice to make and after they realized that the social side does matter as much as the economics, they made the correct choice.

               Another topic discussed by Anshen was the vulnerable responses that were needed to help amend the situation with Equifax. The passive attitude that was first shown when the breach was made public was not good for the company and made it seem as if they did not care about the consumers that were being affected by this breach which is overall bad for business. It is important to make it public knowledge that a business cares for the people that it serves, especially in the current socially motivated world that we all live in today. After some time of being negatively portrayed worldwide due to not only the breach but also the company’s immediate response, Equifax buckled down and attempted to make things right. The continued trading immediately after the breach would have been a crime if known to the businessmen in the company and this paints a very bad picture of the company in the eyes of not only those affected but also all people paying attention to news in relation to the breach. The vulnerable responses were needed in order to allow people to know that Equifax cared about what happened and wanted to make amends with those who were hurt by the breach. The vulnerability, though it took time, allowed the consumers that utilized the services to realize that the company was attempting to fix the issues that were caused by the breach and potentially gained some trust from the average consumer that had been lost due to the breach.

               The social contract that is known to people but not often spoken about is a great theory to help define this case. Contractarianism helps to explain why the breach was such an issue to people and also helps to understand why everyone involved reacted in the way that they did. The actions taken immediately after the breach were self-serving by the company and did not fulfill their ethical duties to the consumer. After the social contract was essentially reminded to the company due to the backlash received, they changed their tune and attempted to fix the problems which the breach had caused. Immediately following the breach, and the lack of response by Equifax did not serve the people that were abiding by the social contract simply by utilizing the website and attempting to be a part of society by utilizing credit and the software mandated to follow the score. After the social pressure had been put on the company, they decided to abide by contractarianism and follow the social contract allowing them to repair some of the relationships they had damaged.

The Equifax breach was a roller coaster of emotions, reactions, and solutions for both the company and consumers alike. The company did not ethically follow the guidelines that they should have to ensure that people were protected and even after, that people were helped to fix the problem that the breach caused. The readings help to understand the shift in culture from purely an economically advantageous standpoint to a standpoint that includes the social aspects of any and all actions by all people involved, the company included. Although times have changed in recent history for businesses, it is the responsibility of the business to keep up with the trends and to realize that things such as contractarian theory can make a large difference in the world of business if they abide by the social contract they will not only receive more trust from the people but will also be more profitable from those willing to spend their money on things such as credit monitoring, freezing accounts, and credit checkers. Equifax did not act ethically to begin with, but after some time and pressure, they realized the right thing to do had been standing in front of them all along.