A federal judge in Texas has ruled that a settlement over two AT&T security breaches can proceed.
The settlement will have a payout of $177 million to customers who were victims of at least one of the two incidents.
CNET reported that while the details have not been released yet, the largest payouts will go to those customers who have suffered damages that are “fairly traceable” to the leaks.
AT&T said it was not responsible for the data leaks but still has been working on the settlement.
“While we deny the allegations in these lawsuits that we were responsible for these criminal acts, we have agreed to this settlement to avoid the expense and uncertainty of protracted litigation. We remain committed to protecting our customers’ data and ensuring their continued trust in us,” the company said in a statement, according to PC Mag.
The settlements will be paid out as follows: $149,000,000 will be set aside for those affected by one breach in 2019, while $28,000,000 will be set aside for the second one, which happened in 2024, according to court documents.
Some of the information accessed by hackers in the 2019 incident was current and former AT&T customers’ names, Social Security numbers and birthdays, PC Mag reported.
In the 2024 case, hackers got access to call and text data of almost all customers, but AT&T said no customer names were part of the information accessed, the publication said. Two people were arrested in connection with the case.
You can apply to be part of the settlement starting in August.
To opt out of the settlement, the deadline has been set for Oct. 17. If you object to the settlement, the deadline to do so is the same.
The final approval hearing is scheduled for Dec. 3.
If you are eligible to be part of the settlement, you will receive a letter or email this summer, PC Mag reported. Payouts will be sent next year.
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