Xfinity Data Breach

Internet Provider Xfinity, recently admitted that the sensitive information of nearly 36 million internet customers was compromised because of its computer systems. Xfinity customers may be entitled to compensation.

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What Happened?

Xfinity recently announced a data breach that exposed confidential customer information. If you have received internet services from Xfinity, we can help navigate the next steps to answer your questions.

What Personal Information Is at Issue?

Although Xfinity says its investigation is ongoing, it has already concluded the stolen data included customers’ usernames and hashed passwords and, for some customers, other information was also included, such as names, contact information, last four digits of social security numbers, dates of birth and/or secret questions and answers for accessing accounts.

What Are Data Breaches?

Data breaches occur when a malicious third party, such as a computer hacker, gains access to sensitive consumer and other data held by a business who was entrusted to protect it. Frequently, data breaches are the result of insufficient data security, allowing hackers to illegally gain access to the data and either misuse it themselves (e.g., for identity theft or fraud) or sell or trade that data with others, often on the “dark web”.

Unfortunately, in the modern age, data breaches have become a fact of life. Where data breaches are the result of insufficient protections put in place by the breached business, however, the business may be required to compensate the victims whose personal data was improperly accessed. To qualify for compensation under the CCPA, the victim must be a California resident and must have experienced the disclosure of certain types of information (listed below).

What is the CCPA?

The CCPA refers to the California Consumer Privacy Act, a comprehensive data privacy law enacted in the state of California, which went into effect on January 1, 2020. The CCPA aims to enhance privacy rights and consumer protection for residents of California.

CCPA includes provisions to protect consumer rights, impose certain obligations on businesses, and to impose liability in the event of a breach. The CCPA can provide for compensation when certain kinds of information are disclosed, including consumers’ names in combination with their social security number or other government-issued identification number, account number in combination with security codes or passwords, or usernames or email addresses in combination with passwords or security questions, which would allow access to customer accounts.

What is the CPRA?

The CPRA refers to the California Privacy Rights Act, which is also known as Proposition 24. It is a privacy law that builds upon the CCPA to further enhance consumer privacy rights and protections for California residents. The CPRA was approved by California voters in the November 2020 election and became effective on January 1, 2023.

The CPRA aims to enhance consumer privacy rights, provide individuals with more control over their personal information, and increase accountability and transparency for businesses operating in California.

What are the Risks of Data Breaches?

Being the victim of a data breach in which criminal actors may have access to personal information can be a stressful and frightening experience. Data breaches can place the victims at an increased risk of fraud or identity theft, as their stolen data can be misused by criminal actors, often long after the breach itself. For example, where a username and password are disclosed as part of a data breach, bad actors might make use of that information to illegally access accounts.

In some cases, the information disclosed through the data breach can be profitable to criminals immediately, who may use stolen login information to drain financial accounts or make purchases. In other cases, the personal information disclosed is bought and sold online where it can be used in conjunction with data from other sources (including other data breaches) as part of an identity theft attempt. In other words, it is often impossible to know the true risks of a data breach until long after the breach has occurred, as criminals may be analyzing and aggregating the stolen data into comprehensive identity theft packages. This is why holding businesses accountable for their insufficient data security is important.

What Can I Do?

Unfortunately, any data disclosed as part of a data breach has effectively entered the public domain, and may be repeatedly accessed, traded, bought, and sold by criminal actors online.

The first thing to do when discovering that you have been victimized in a data breach is to immediately change login information such as passwords to a new and unique password for the affected account.

Once passwords have been updated to new, unique, and strong passwords, an affected person should continue to monitor account activity and credit reports, to ensure that their information has not been misused. Suspicious activity should be reported directly to the bank or card provider where the account is maintained. Enrolling in identity theft protection services may also offer protection, but data breach victims should still monitor accounts for suspicious activity.

Victims of data breaches should also strongly consider taking action against the business that experienced, and may be responsible for, the breach. If you are a California resident, California law provides that where a business has failed to implement and maintain reasonable security procedures and practices appropriate to the nature of the information it holds, the victim of the data breach can seek compensation from the business.

If you are a California resident who has been victimized by a data breach, you can contact our team of attorneys today to receive a free case evaluation. If you are entitled to compensation, our attorneys will analyze your case and, if appropriate, pursue a claim on your behalf to seek the best possible compensation for your loss.

You can access a detailed list of reported data breaches using the websites of the California and Maine Attorneys General:

California: https://oag.ca.gov/ecrime/databreach/reports/sb24-567260

Maine: https://apps.web.maine.gov/online/aeviewer/ME/40/895b95c8-abc8-41f1-8c3f-b0415575de56.shtml

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