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The website set up to check whether a person's personal data had been breached (<nowiki>trustedidpremier.com</nowiki>) was determined by security experts and others to return apparently random results instead of accurate information.<ref name="cnet-hack-checker">{{cite web|url=https://www.cnet.com/uk/how-to/psa-equifaxs-hack-checker-is-a-hot-mess/|title=Equifax's hack checker is a hot mess -- here's what to do|website=Cnet.com|accessdate=September 10, 2017}}</ref> As with <nowiki>https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com</nowiki>, this website, too, was registered and constructed like a phishing website, and it was flagged as such by several web browsers.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Krebs|first1=Brian|title=Equifax or Equiphish? — Krebs on Security|url=https://krebsonsecurity.com/2017/09/equifax-or-equiphish/|accessdate=October 13, 2017|work=krebsonsecurity.com}}</ref>
The Trusted ID Premier website contained [[terms of use]], dated September 6, 2017 (the day before Equifax announced the security breach) which included an [[arbitration clause]] with a class action waiver.<ref name="chacos">{{cite web|last1=Chacos|first1=Brad|title=Equifax hack: How to know if you're affected|url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/3223142/security/equifax-hack-how-to-know-affected-data-breach.html|website=[[PCWorld]]|accessdate=September 13, 2017|date=September 8, 2017}}</ref><ref name="robertson">{{cite news |url=https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/8/16276572/equifax-hack-protection-class-action-lawsuit-terms-of-service |publisher=''[[The Verge]]'' |title=Can you join a class action suit if you use Equifax’s free identity theft protection? |first=Adi |last=Robertson |date=September 8, 2017}}</ref> Attorneys said that the arbitration clause was ambiguous and that it could require consumers who accepted it to arbitrate claims related to the cybersecurity incident.<ref name="robertson" /> According to Polly Mosendz and Shahien Nasiripour, "some fear[ed] that simply using an Equifax website to check whether their information was compromised bound them to arbitration".<ref name="mosendz-nasiripour">{{cite web|last1=Mosendz|first1=Polly|last2=Nasiripour|first2=Shahien|title=Equifax’s Hacking Nightmare Gets Even Worse For Victims|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-08/equifax-s-hacking-nightmare-gets-worse-thanks-to-arbitration-clause|website=Bloomberg.com|accessdate=September 13, 2017|date=September 8, 2017}}</ref> The equifax.com website has separate terms of use with an arbitration clause and class action waiver, but, according to Brian Fung of ''The Washington Post'', "it's unclear if that applies to the credit monitoring program".<ref name="fung-tribune">{{cite web|last1=Fung|first1=Brian|title=By signing up on Equifax's help site, you risk giving up your legal rights|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-equifax-data-breach-website-arbitration-20170908-story.html|website=chicagotribune.com|accessdate=September 13, 2017|date=September 8, 2017}}</ref> New York Attorney General [[Eric Schneiderman]] demanded that Equifax remove the arbitration clause.<ref name="fung" /> Responding to arbitration-related concerns, on September 8, Equifax issued a statement stating that "in response to consumer inquiries, we have made it clear that the arbitration clause and class action waiver included in the Equifax and TrustedID Premier terms of use does not apply to this cybersecurity incident."<ref name="fung">{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/09/08/what-to-know-before-you-check-equifaxs-data-breach-website/|title=Equifax finally responds to swirling concerns over consumers’ legal rights|work=The Washington Post|language=en-US|access-date=September 8, 2017}}</ref> Joel Winston, a data protection lawyer, argued that the announcement disclaiming the arbitration clause "means nothing" because the terms of use state that they are the "entire agreement" between the parties.<ref name="fung" /> The arbitration clause was later removed from equifaxsecurity2017.com,<ref name="fung" /> and the equifax.com terms of use were amended on September 12 to state that
Responding to continuing public outrage,<ref name="nydailynews">{{cite web|title=What Equifax owes us all: A free credit freeze at all agencies, for starters, and loads of answers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/equifax-owes-article-1.3490673|website=New York Daily News|accessdate=September 13, 2017|date=September 12, 2017}}</ref> Equifax announced on September 12 that they "are waiving all Security Freeze fees for the next 30 days".<ref name="freezefee">{{cite web|last1=Kirsch|first1=Melissa|title=Equifax Is Waiving Their Credit-Freeze Fees for 30 Days|url=http://lifehacker.com/equifax-is-waiving-their-credit-freeze-fees-for-30-days-1805663077|website=lifehacker|accessdate=September 13, 2017|date=September 12, 2017}}</ref>
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