Time Is Running Out to Claim Your Share of AT&T's Gigantic $177 Million Legal Settlement

Almost 200 million people were affected by two giant data breaches at AT&T, and those privacy victims are finally about to receive compensation for their losses.

AT&T has been held responsible for two recent, massive data breaches, and those affected will have a limited window to file a claim in a class-action lawsuit against the company. On June 20, US District Judge Ada E. Brown granted preliminary approval to the settlement tied to the 2024 breaches. Just weeks later, on August 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 affected 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. However, it's essential to act soon: the deadline for filing claims against AT&T settlement is November 18, 2025.

The Breaches That Triggered the Lawsuit

The two data breaches related to AT&T's current $177 million settlement occurred in 2019 and 2024. 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, affecting 7.6 million current AT&T customers and 65.4 million former account holders. After disclosure, AT&T reset 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 breach lawsuits agreed to a settlement in March 2025. The class affected by "AT&T 1 Data Incident" (the 2019 breach) will receive $149 million, while the class included in "AT&T 2 Data Incident" (the 2024 Snowflake breach) will receive $28 million.

How to 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, 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. You may need to wait a few minutes before submitting your claim.

Maximum Payouts for the AT&T Privacy Settlement

Making claims 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 both breaches are also eligible for separate payouts. While it's not entirely clear whether 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.