Breach Database / National Public Data
Yes — National Public Data was breached.
- 134 million accounts affected
- Breach occurred 2024-04-09
- Unverified entry in the Have I Been Pwned catalog
What happened
In April 2024, a large trove of data made headlines as having exposed "3 billion people" due to a breach of the National Public Data background check service. The initial corpus of data released in the breach contained billions of rows of personal information, including US social security numbers. Further partial data sets were later released including extensive personal information and 134M unique email addresses, although the origin and accuracy of the data remains in question. This breach has been flagged as "unverified" and a full description of the incident is in the link above.
What data was exposed
- Dates of birth
- Email addresses
- Genders
- Government issued IDs
- Names
- Phone numbers
- Physical addresses
What to do right now
- Freeze your credit. A credit freeze at the major bureaus is free and blocks new accounts from being opened in your name.
- Be alert for smishing and SIM-swap attempts. Treat unexpected texts and "carrier" calls with suspicion; add a PIN/port-freeze with your mobile carrier.
- Watch for targeted phishing mail. A leaked home address makes postal and doorstep scams more convincing.
- Expect convincing phishing emails. Attackers use breached details to write personalized emails. Be suspicious of any message referencing this service.
- Check your other accounts on Have I Been Pwned. Your email address may appear in other breaches you don't know about yet.
- Monitor the apps you use going forward. Clearly watches the breach record for the companies behind your apps and alerts you the moment one appears.
Breach data from Have I Been Pwned. Listing here means the service appears in the public breach record — not that your personal data was affected.