Your legal rights after a data breach
What the law already gives you, what the company had to do, and when you may be able to recover money.
Rights under federal law
A free credit freeze
You can freeze your credit at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion for free. A freeze stops anyone opening new credit in your name, and you can lift it whenever you need to.
Fair Credit Reporting Act, as amended in 2018
A free one-year fraud alert
Ask one credit bureau for a fraud alert and it must tell the other two. Lenders then have to take extra steps to confirm it is really you.
Fair Credit Reporting Act
Free credit reports every week
You can check your reports from all three bureaus for free at AnnualCreditReport.com and dispute anything you do not recognize.
Fair Credit Reporting Act
To dispute fraud on your credit report
If someone opens an account in your name, the credit bureaus must investigate your dispute and remove information that turns out to be wrong.
Fair Credit Reporting Act
The company had to tell you
Every state has a data breach notification law. When a company loses residents’ personal information, it generally has to notify them, and many states also require a report to the state Attorney General. Those reports are the public filings listed on this site.
Find the filing for your breachWhen you may be able to sue
Negligence
Most data breach lawsuits argue the company did not take reasonable care to protect the information it collected, and that people were harmed as a result.
State consumer protection laws
Many states let consumers sue over unfair or deceptive business practices, which can include misleading promises about data security.
State privacy statutes
A few states go further. California lets residents sue over certain breaches caused by poor security, and Illinois protects biometric data such as fingerprints and face scans.
Class actions
When many people are affected by the same breach, their claims are often brought together in one class action. Settlements can pay cash, cover losses, or fund credit monitoring.
Free case review
Tell us which company notified you. An attorney checks whether you may have a claim. No fee unless you recover.
Attorney advertising. General information, not legal advice for your situation. Laws change and vary by state.