Factual Data Breach

What happened?

In March 2017, a file containing 8M rows of data allegedly sourced from data aggregator Factual was compiled and later exchanged on the premise it was a "breach". The data contained 2.5M unique email addresses alongside business names, addresses and phone numbers. After consultation with Factual, they advised the data was "publicly available information about businesses and other points of interest that Factual makes available on its website and to customers".

When did it happen?

The breach date in the public record is March 22, 2017. The record was added to the catalogue on December 24, 2019 and last updated there on December 24, 2019.

What information was reported as exposed?

• Email addresses
• Employers
• Phone numbers
• Physical addresses

These are incident-level categories. The record does not prove that every category was exposed for every affected person.

Who may be affected?

This record may be relevant to people who had an account or other relationship with Factual or used factual.com around March 22, 2017. A catalogue entry does not establish that every customer was affected or that every listed data category applied to each person. Compare the record with an official notice addressed to you.

What should you do?

Choose actions that match the information involved. If you find signs that someone is using your identity, the Federal Trade Commission provides a personal recovery plan at IdentityTheft.gov.