AT&T faces class action lawsuit over massive data breach exposing 70 million customers’ personal information (2024)

AT&T is facing a class action lawsuit, accusing the company of negligence and breach of contract over a significant data breach that compromised personal information.

The plaintiffs, representing over 70 million current and former AT&T customers, filed the lawsuit on April 3 after an extensive data breach exposed their names, addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, and PINs. Upon learning of the breach in August 2021 when hackers auctioned the database of 70 million customers’ personally identifiable information in an online hacking forum, AT&T denied the breach ever occurred and refused to investigate further.

According to the class action filing, AT&T failed to investigate the data breach for nearly three years, resulting in negligence and breach of contract.

• FAQ: What to know about the AT&T data breach that leaked millions of customers’ information online

“AT&T failed to protect the data of its current and former customers,” said Douglas McNamara, partner at Cohen Milstein in a press release. “If AT&T has the power to require customers to hand over information for the company’s commercial benefit, it bears responsibility for safeguarding it, at a bare minimum.”

AT&T is accused of negligence in handling sensitive customer information, by failing to monitor its security measures and acting promptly when the breach was discovered.

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According to the complaint, AT&T breached its contract with customers by asserting in its privacy notice that it would safeguard sensitive personal data and notify users about a data breach. Former customers’ data were supposed to be destroyed once they were no longer needed, but 65.4 million of these records were leaked.

Plaintiffs are represented by Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, Barnes Law Group, Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP, and DiCello Levitt LLP. Former and current AT&T customers that are interested in participating the case can complete this contact form.

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