T-Mobile Reaches Settlement In Data Breach Case

T-Mobile agreed to settle a class action suit over a 2021 criminal cybersecurity on its systems that exposed sensitive information for millions of customers.

Although T-Mobile denies any wrongdoing, the telecommunications giant has agreed to pay $350 million to fund claims submitted by class members, and will spend another $135 million on data security and related technology in 2022 and 2023 after numerous lawsuits were brought on behalf of consumers whose personal information was compromised as a result of the data breach. These lawsuits are known as In re: T-Mobile Customer Data Security Breach of Litigation, MDL No. 3019, Case No. 4:21-md-03019-BCW.

According to a preliminary settlement filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, the case involves more than 76.6 million U.S. residents identified by T-Mobile whose information was compromised in the data breach. The specific information compromised for each customer included some combination of names, addresses, zip codes, phone numbers, dates of birth, social security number/tax identification number, and/or other government identification number including driver’s license number, account establish date, name of authorized user, phone number, IMSI, MSISDN, PIN, and personal unlock code.

Final court approval of the settlement is expected as early as January 2023 but could be delayed by appeals or other proceedings. However, if approved by the court, the settlement is expected to resolve substantially all of the claims brought by customers.

Eligibility and How to File a Claim

If you are among the approximately 76 million U.S. residents identified by T-Mobile whose information was compromised in the data breach, you may be entitled to receive payment if you submit claim.

The deadline to file a claim is January 23, 2023.