National Public Data data breach class action overview:ย
- Who: National Public Data has been hit with three class action lawsuits by U.S. residents.
- Why: The plaintiffs say the company was responsible for their data being exposed in a breach.
- Where: The National Public Data class action lawsuits were filed in Florida federal courts.
National Public Data, a background check company that aggregates billions of records, is facing three separate class action lawsuits in the aftermath of a significant data breach that exposed the personal information of countless people.
The three lawsuits, each filed in Florida federal courts in the first week of August, accuse the company of failing to protect sensitive data from a cyberattack that happened earlier this year.
The complaints, brought against Jerico Pictures Inc. โ doing business as National Public Data โ allege that the companyโs systems were breached in April 2024.ย
2.9 billion records stolen
According to the lawsuits, the data breach led to the theft of personally identifiable information belonging to millions of individuals.ย
The stolen data, which included full names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, and even family history, was reportedly put up for sale on the dark web, the plaintiffs allege.
The breach was first reported on June 1, 2024, by VX-Underground, a cybersecurity research group, one of the complaints states.
VX-Underground claimed that the cybercriminal group โUSDoDโ was behind the attack and had posted the database containing 2.9 billion records for sale online for $3.5 million.ย
The research group also confirmed the authenticity of the data. Despite the scale of the breach, National Public Data has yet to publicly acknowledge the incident or notify affected individuals directly, the lawsuits state.
National Public Data failed to secure information, lawsuits claim
The four named plaintiffs in the lawsuits argue that the company failed to adequately secure the sensitive information it collected, leaving it vulnerable to unauthorized access.ย
They also claim National Public Data obtained much of the data from non-public sources without the knowledge or consent of the individuals involved.ย
The lawsuits allege that by collecting and profiting from this data, the company assumed a duty to protect it โ a duty the company did not live up to, the plaintiffs say.
One of the plaintiffs, James Thomas Jones of Florida, says he discovered in late July that his personal information had been compromised.ย
Jones says he was alerted by Experian that his data had been found on the dark web following the breach. He states that he never provided his information to National Public Data and that the company scraped his information from non-public sources without his consent.
As a result, the plaintiffs are seeking to represent classes of U.S. residents whose personally identifiable information was compromised in the breach.ย
They are suing for negligence and breach of implied contract and are seeking certification of the class action lawsuits, damages, fees, costs and orders requiring National Public Data to enhance its cybersecurity practices. The lawsuits also seek jury trials.ย
Were you affected by the National Public Data breach? Let us know in the comments.ย
The plaintiffs are represented by Kopelowitz Ostrow Ferguson Weiselberg Gilbert and Markovits, Stock & Demarco LLC; and Morgan & Morgan Complex Litigation Group and Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith LLP.
The National Public Data breach class actions lawsuits are Lowanda Wilcox v. Jerico Pictures Inc., Case No. 0:24-cv-61418-AHS; Barry Cotton et al., v. Jerico Pictures Inc., Case No. 0:24-cv-61396-MD and James Thomas Jones v. Jerico Pictures Inc., Case No. 0:24-cv-61412-XXXX, all in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.ย
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807 thoughts onNational Public Data class actions allege company responsible for data breach affecting billions
I would like to be added to the class action lawsuit.
All Data leaked
Yes, i too will be joining. Got an alert my ssn was leaked by National Public Data. I never gave them my info. And ssn is not even a public data.
Yes, Just received notification that my SSN, email and address were found on the dark web involving National Public Data and other unknown. I too would be interested in going a class action.
Both me and my husband are two of the many victims targeted in the recent National Public Data breach. Neither of us have not received an official โdata breach letterโ from National Public Data, however. Instead, we have received and continue to receive multiple emails and texts from the three major credit bureaus, as well as LifeLock, that our NAMES, ADDRESS, BIRTHDATES, EMAILS AND SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS have been detected on the DARK WEB in relation to the National Public Data Breach, which I am just now reading and learning about โ apparently, months after the fact. Iโve already placed freezes at the credit bureaus and fraud alerts, placed fraud alerts at the bank, changed certain passwords, am changing my email address, made sure we have personal accounts at the SSA and IRS, and put additional layered protection on the websites that allow for that. We donโt know what else to do. This is so frustrating. Weโve worked really hard all of our lives. Weโve trusted certain websites that weโve business with over the years. And, now we find out that this National Public Data company can just grab personal information and store it on their website for โfuture use.โ Well, thatโs just great. Because that โfuture useโ just led to one of the most massive breaches in history and millions of people are now at risk for their identifies to be stolen and their lives upended. I donโt even know how NPD was able to get away with such shoddy security measures for being able to access such highly sensitive information. This is stressful and anxiety-provoking and now just one more thing to worry about for the rest of our lives. Itโs horrible. And, even though weโve never done this before, both me and my husband would like to be added to this class action lawsuit. Because, we donโt know whatโs going to happen and we might need some extra support for โfuture useโ in case our identities are stolen and we have to fight to get our lives back.
I am requesting an official data breach letter be sent to me and my husband explaining what exactly was stolen and what we need to do to protect ourselve
As difficult as all things are right now to find out that all my illegally obtained information was posted for any hacker with a computer to obtain is not only shocking itโs depressing. Not only did I have to take action to freeze my credit contact all my financial institutions I actually had to hear about this nearly 3 months after it initially occurred needless to say every company like this needs to be investigated and bankrupted if one is doing it I am absolutely sure there are others. Being poor sucks because you never hear about things like this happening to rich people. The stress from this incident has put me in the worst position.
Hello, I received an email saying my email address and SSN were leaked in this breach. Iโm very interested in joining a class action.
how do you join the class action ?
I was warned by Experian Credit Bureau that there were three National Public Data hack incidents that involved my Social Security number. I discovered that two of the three were under a totally unknown personโs name, different addresses on each one. The third identified me. This company, National Public Data, which I had never heard of until this disaster surfaced, much less given approval to have my personal data, obviously was one big sloppy mess waiting for a disaster to happen. The only way to stop this nonsense from happening again is by huge lawsuits which can put this โfly by nightโ company out of business forever. I would like to join a class action lawsuit with a reputable, experinced class action lawsuit attorney.
I have received emails and letters stating that my SS number was found on the dark web from National Public Data. Also received a letter from AT&T, Oracle and Change Healthcare. Looks like Iโm going to be really busy dealing with changing everything.