AT&T customers could get as much as $7,500 after judge approves settlement tied to a pair of data breaches
The sign in front of an AT&T retail store in Miami. Two data breaches together impacted nearly every one of the Texas-based telecommunication company’s customers. Credit: AP/Lynne Sladky
A Texas judge approved a $177 million settlement of a class-action suit that paves the way for AT&T customers to receive up to $7,500 for a pair of data breaches that compromised users' data.
AT&T has until Nov. 2 to appeal the settlement that Senior United States District Court Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater approved on Oct. 2. If the company does not appeal, the settlement takes effect on Nov. 12, kicking off a 60-day window for AT&T to cut customers checks or pay them electronically.
If the telecommunications provider appeals, the settlement's effective date would start 30 days "after the last appellate court ruling" affirming Fitzwater’s order or 30 days after the appeal is dismissed, according to the settlement, which was reached last year.
AT&T does not "admit any liability or wrongdoing of any kind," and settled "to avoid the further expense, inconvenience, and distraction of burdensome and protracted litigation, and to be completely free of any further claims," the settlement said.
The arrangement compensates customers impacted by two 2024 breaches. The first impacted 7.6 million active users and 65.4 million former users whose sensitive information, such as Social Security numbers, were released on the "dark web," according to The Associated Press. The second incident involved several months worth of call and text message records that were "illegally downloaded from our workspace on a third-party cloud platform." That breach, which impacted nearly every customer, leaked phone numbers, but not contents of the calls and messages or other personal information. The incidents spurned multiple lawsuits across the country, which were consolidated.
Customers impacted by the first breach who filed a claim before Dec. 18, 2025, can receive up to $5,000. Those impacted by the second could reap up to $2,500, and customers are eligible for both payouts, according to Kroll Settlement Administration, which is overseeing the settlement.
AT&T did not immediately respond to Newsday’s emailed request for comment late Tuesday.
