Question: Auwe to Equifax! Shouldn’t they be notifying customers directly who were affected by this huge data breach?
Answer: The consumer credit reporting agency says it will send direct-mail notices to consumers whose credit card numbers or credit-dispute documents with personal identifying information were compromised. That accounts for only about 391,000 of the 143 million U.S. consumers potentially affected by a criminal hack the company made public Thursday.
Everyone else is directed to the company’s website, equifaxsecurity2017.com, to find out whether their personal information, such as names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and driver’s license numbers, was exposed. Doing so requires consumers to input their surname and the last six digits of their Social Security number. If you are comfortable with that option, go to the website, click on “Potential Impact” and follow the instructions.
Understandably, some consumers, like you are, don’t want to provide personal information online in the wake of the massive data breach, which Equifax blames on criminals exploiting a vulnerability in another of the company’s websites. If you’d rather contact the company by phone, call 866-447-7559 and follow the prompts.
Q: Do I need a permit to start a food cart?
A: Yes. Any permanent food establishment, including restaurants, bars, caterers, markets, convenience stores, lunch wagons or pushcarts, needs a permit from the state Department of Health. You can access the permit applications for the various islands at 808ne.ws/foodpmt.
As of Saturday the state’s food safety code was amended to integrate formerly separate rules for mobile food establishments into the general regulations for all permanent food establishments. Mobile food establishments, such as food carts or food trucks, “are required to access a state-approved facility to support their food operations safely,” according to the Health Department. You can read the full food safety code, which is Title 11, Chapter 50 of Hawaii’s Administrative Rules, at 808ne.ws/Ch50fsc.
Auwe
Auwe to the rude driver who almost hit my son in the crosswalk at Aala and School streets on Aug. 28. My son heard a loud screech and could feel the air rushing by his backpack. Then the driver yelled at my son, even though my son was in the crosswalk and had the signal. That driver was a bad example to the children riding in his car. He should be more attentive when driving and not blame pedestrians who are in the crosswalk. Auwe! — A mom
E kala mai
Apologies to the neighbors for the storage unit fronting our grandparents’ home. It’s taken us longer than expected to clean out their house. I don’t want to mention the neighborhood because we don’t want to get a ticket or have the house vandalized. We are sorry about the eyesore and will move it as soon as we can. — Honolulu resident
Mahalo
A sincere mahalo to all the people who helped my mom after she fell at the Okinawan Festival on Saturday. Thank you for helping her to her feet and for the medical attention she received at the first-aid tent. A special thank you to the kind lady who escorted her (and even carried our two folding chairs) to the parking lot loading zone while I brought the car around from several blocks away. May the Lord bless all of you! — I.N.
Mahalo
On Sept. 2 at 10:45 a.m., we went to Panda Express in Kahala Mall. After I ordered our meals and was ready to pay, an angel appeared and paid for our meals! We can’t thank this lovely woman enough for her kindness. She is truly an angel who lives and spreads the spirit of aloha! — Mahalo plenty, Joyce and Herman
