AT&T customers affected by the 2024 breaches can get paid. Here’s how and when.
AT&T customers caught up in two massive data breaches may finally see compensation. The first incident in 2019 exposed the personal information of more than 70 million people, and another breach in 2024 compromised the data of 109 million more customers’ whose data appeared on the dark web. After years of litigation, the class-action lawsuit against the telecom giant has reached a proposed $177 million settlement that’s expected to start paying out in early 2026.
On June 20, US District Judge Ada E. Brown granted preliminary approval to the settlement tied to the 2024 breaches. Just weeks later, on Aug. 4, the administrator overseeing the class action began accepting claims from eligible customers. Claimants are divided into two groups based on which breach affected them, but individuals impacted by both incidents can file claims in each category.
That means depending on your eligibility, you could be entitled to a significant payout once the settlement is finalized. But you’ll need to act fast: claims must be filed by Nov. 18, 2025, or you risk missing out. Here’s what to know about the AT&T settlement, including how to file a claim, how much money you could receive and the details behind the breaches that triggered the lawsuit.
Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.
What were these data breaches that prompted the lawsuits against AT&T?
The two data breaches related to AT&T’s current $177 million settlement occurred in 2019 and 2024, although the company didn’t acknowledge the 2019 breach until March 2024, weeks after it detected customer data spreading on the dark web.
The 2019 breach involved personal data including Social Security numbers, birth dates and legal names, and it affected 7.6 million current AT&T customers and 65.4 million former account holders. Soon after the disclosure, AT&T took the dramatic step of resetting passwords for all current customers who were included in the breach.
The second data breach covered by the legal settlement happened soon after the disclosure of the first. In April 2024, hackers accessed phone records from 2022 for nearly all of AT&T’s US customers (about 109 million) from Snowflake, the company’s cloud-based data warehouse. AT&T disclosed the breach in July 2024.
Associates of the hacker group ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for similar Snowflake attacks on about 165 companies in mid-2024. Two people were eventually arrested for the AT&T hack.
A rash of lawsuits for both data breaches were filed after both of AT&T’s disclosures and were consolidated soon after. All parties in both of the breach lawsuits agreed to a settlement in March 2025.
The class affected by “AT&T 1 Data Incident” (the 2019 breach) will receive a $149 million payout in the proposed settlement, while the class included in “AT&T 2 Data Incident” (the 2024 Snowflake breach) will receive $28 million.
How can people file a claim for part of the AT&T settlement?
Kroll Settlement Administration, the organization managing AT&T’s legal settlement, has created a website at telecomdatasettlement.com where eligible class members can file claims for compensation.
To file a claim for part of the settlement, you’ll need to have a “Class Member ID,” which should have come in a notification from Kroll, most likely by email. If you cannot find the email, be sure to check your spam folder or other email filters.
You’ll need to retrieve your Class Member ID from the notification you received, or else call the administrators to get an ID.
If you believe you should be included in either part of the AT&T settlement and did not receive a notification, or if you’re not sure if you’re included, you can call the settlement administrator at 833-890-4930, or write to it at AT&T Data Incident Settlement; c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC; P.O. Box 5324; New York, NY 10150-5324.
Once you have a Claim Member ID from Kroll, you can complete the filing forms, including any documented information about losses you experienced because of either breach or both.
Traffic to the website for the AT&T settlement has been metered. I recently checked the claim submission form and received a Cloudflare warning: “We are experiencing a high volume of traffic and using a virtual queue to limit the amount of users on the website at the same time.” I had to wait 2 minutes to get in.
If you don’t want to submit a claim online, you can also print and mail the settlement forms (all PDFs): claim for the 2019 breach; claim for the 2024 Snowflake breach; claim for people affected by both breaches. Mailed forms should be sent to the Kroll address above and postmarked by the same Nov. 18, 2025, deadline.
Maximum payouts for the AT&T privacy settlement
How much could victims receive if they were included in one or both of the specific AT&T data breaches? Many payouts will be ultimately based on the number of people who file claims, but we have some estimates from the terms of the settlement.
People affected by the 2019 data breach who can prove a “documented loss” can receive up to $5,000. If someone cannot prove that loss, they’ll receive one of two tiered cash payments, based on whether their Social Security number was included in the breach.
For the Snowflake breach of 2024, AT&T customers who were affected and can prove that same demonstrated loss with documentation can receive up to $2,500. Those who were affected but have no proof of loss will receive a “pro rata” share of the remaining money, meaning it will be divided evenly among them.
Those affected by the 2019 and 2024 data breaches can file claims for both classes. While it’s not entirely clear yet if someone with two demonstrated losses could receive the full amount of $7,500, there’s nothing in the language of the settlement site that says they couldn’t.
