Security expert Bruce Schneier has published <https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2017/11/me_on_the_equif.html> the testimony he gave to the US House Energy and Commerce Committee on the breach of confidential personal information on close to half the entire population of the US. His main points are worth summarizing: 1. The Equifax breach was a serious security breach that puts millions of Americans at risk. 2. Equifax was solely at fault. 3. There are thousands of data brokers with similarly intimate information, similarly at risk. 4. These data brokers deliberately hide their actions, and make it difficult for consumers to learn about or control their data. 5. The existing regulatory structure is inadequate. 6. The market cannot fix this because we are not the customers of data brokers. 7. We need effective regulation of data brokers. 8. Resist complaints from the industry that this is "too hard." 9. This has foreign trade implications. 10. This has national security implications. 11. We need to do something about it. Read the article for more detail. I would say this is more than a US-specific problem, it is a worldwide problem. Other places may have stricter privacy regulations, but that might not be enough.