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What to Do If You’re the Victim of a Business Data Breach

computer data

You hand your information over to businesses believing it’s going to be safe. They’re going to protect you and your data, right? Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case, and if you’re the victim of a business data breach you might not know what to do. Fortunately, privacy and consumer rights attorney Robin D. Perry can help you. 

The Law Offices of Robin D. Perry & Associates provide vigorous representation to clients and are a goal-oriented and values-driven firm. We develop creative strategies to win every case, every time and are confident we can help you with your data breach case. Reach out to us today to schedule a consultation. 

Business Data Breaches in the Recent Past

Business data breaches seem to becoming more and more common as more of the world goes online. Some of the biggest ones lately include Adobe, where 153 million user records were compromised and the company settled with the victims, and eBay, which had its entire customer base of 145 million users compromised in 2014. Customers had to change their passwords, but there was no settlement. Equifax had an application vulnerability and this led to a data breach that involved 147.9 million customers. The company faced a class-action lawsuit. Other companies that have experienced data breaches are Canva, LinkedIn, Marriott International, and Yahoo, among many others.

Privacy and consumer rights attorneys often get involved after data breaches to seek out settlements from companies and ensure that customers are compensated for the trouble.

data breachWhat to Do If You Are the Victim of a Business Data Breach

If your data was compromised in a business data breach, then you should first follow the directions from the company. You might have to change your password or username to protect your information, for instance. If you use the same password across multiple websites, then you should change them as well and make sure they are all unique this time around.

You should also figure out what data has been compromised. If your Social Security number was exposed, then contact your bank, credit card providers, and the major credit bureaus right away to tell them what happened to stop the hackers from opening up new lines of credit or otherwise using your money and/or identity. It’s important to monitor your credit report for any changes as well.

Going forward, you should set up fraud alerts so you can find out if there are strange charges on your credit card. If there are, credit card companies are pretty good about refunding the money as long as actual fraud occurred. There are also identity protection services you can purchase that can monitor you for identity theft and alert you when there have been any changes. By being vigilant about your data, you can protect yourself as much as possible from getting your information stolen.

It’s also a good idea to call up a privacy and consumer rights attorney to see if you can pursue legal action against the business. If they didn’t do everything they could to protect you and their other customers, then you may have a valid case on your hands.

What Is a Company Liable For?

You may be able to hold a company liable for a data breach if they did not have the proper protections in place to shield their customers from a data breach. For example, maybe they didn’t encrypt your credit card number or other sensitive information when they should have. Or, there was employee misconduct when it came to your data. They might not have destroyed it properly, sent your Social Security number via email or text, or left Word documents with your information on it open for everyone to see.

If the company didn’t do anything preventative or they didn’t take the right steps following the breach, then they are opening themselves up to a lawsuit. They may not have contacted customers to let them know about the breach. In addition to paying settlements to affected customers, companies can come under fire from the government and have to pay penalties.

 Contact Robin D. Perry & Associates

If you have been involved in a data breach and now you need legal representation, then get in touch with the Law Offices of Robin D. Perry & Associates now. No matter what, we will fight on your behalf during your time of need. Call us at 562-216-2944 or contact us on our website for a free consultation.

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