Montana Data Breach Lawyer

Privacy is “essential to the well-being of a free society.” For that reason, Montana provides strong protections against the wrongful disclosure of personal information. Unfortunately, not all companies take these protections seriously, and often times Montanan’s personal information is disclosed without consent through a security breach.

When such a breach occurs, it may be devastating to you. Whether it is the distress of your privacy being violated, damage to your credit reputation, or harm to your financial stability, you may have a remedy.

Perhaps the best known case is the Equifax data breach case that affection 143,000,000 Americans. Not all data breaches affect this many people, but they all can cause significant harm. If your personal information has been disclosed through a data breach, our Montana data breach lawyers may be able to help. So contact us for your free consultation

Theft of Personal Information

Under Montana law, if your personal information is disclosed through a data breach you must be informed of the breach. The person or business that suffered the breach must do so without unreasonable delay. Information that may not be disclosed includes your name, and any of the following:

• Social Security Number

• Driver's license number, state identification card number, or tribal identification card number;

• Account number or credit or debit card number, in combination with any required security code, access code, or password that would permit access to an individual's financial account;

• Medical record information;

• Taxpayer identification number; or

• An identity protection personal identification number issued by the United States internal revenue service.

If any of this information was disclosed, you must receive notice of the breach. If you receive such notice, or otherwise learn of the unlawful disclosure of your information, contact our data breach lawyers.

Protect yourself

If you have been the subject of a data breach, you can take steps to protect yourself. The Montana Department of Justice maintains a list of all data breaches at https://dojmt.gov/consumer/databreach/. If you have received a notification that your information was disclosed, you may want to confirm the data breach with the DOJ.

Additionally, if you are the subject of a data breach, we recommend you:

• Monitor your credit reports for fraudulent activity, free annual credit reports may be obtained at annualcreditreport.com;

• Monitor your credit card and debit card charges for any unauthorized charges;

• Monitor your bank accounts for any unauthorized activity;

• Notify your bank that your information was disclosed in a data breach;

• Request a fraud alert through the credit reporting agency;

• Accept or enroll in identity protection services;

• Change your passwords on your financial accounts;

• Potentially, get a security freeze if its right for you.

If your credit reports, credit cards, debit cards, or bank accounts show unauthorized activity, contact our Helena Consumer Rights Attorneys for assistance.