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Guide ยท Consumers

What should you do after a data breach notice?

After a data breach notice, confirm the notice is genuine, find out what information was exposed, and follow the FTC steps at IdentityTheft.gov for that type of data. Organisations that suffer a breach should check the notice duties in each affected state and, for health data, the HIPAA rule.

Steps for individuals

  1. Check the notice is real. Contact the organisation through its official website, not links or numbers only in the letter. For health breaches, look it up in our HIPAA tracker.
  2. Identify what was exposed. The steps differ for Social Security numbers, card numbers, passwords or health information.
  3. Follow the FTC steps. IdentityTheft.gov has data-breach checklists, including credit freezes, fraud alerts and reviewing credit reports.
  4. Change passwords for exposed accounts and anywhere you reused them; turn on multi-factor authentication.
  5. Watch statements and health insurance explanations of benefits for services you did not receive.
  6. Use offered services if they suit you. Some states require credit monitoring offers; see each state law page.

What should a company do after a data breach?

Contain the incident, assess what data and which residents are affected, and check the notice rules in each affected state on our law pages and in the compare tool. Health organisations should follow the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule. The FTC publishes a data breach response guide for business. Get qualified legal advice.

Frequently asked questions

What to do after a data breach?

Confirm the notice is genuine, identify what data was exposed, and follow the FTC checklists at IdentityTheft.gov, such as credit freezes, fraud alerts and password changes.

What should a company do after a data breach?

Contain the incident, assess affected data and residents, and follow each applicable state breach law and, for health data, the HIPAA rule. The FTC business guide is a useful starting point.

What to do if your email is in a data breach?

Change the password for that account and any account where you reused it, turn on multi-factor authentication, and watch for phishing messages.

How to protect yourself after a data breach?

Consider a credit freeze or fraud alert, review credit reports and statements, and use unique passwords with multi-factor authentication.

Sources

Last updated 2026-10-20.