Telecom giant AT&T has agreed to a $177 million settlement to resolve two major lawsuits stemming from widespread data breaches that impacted millions of its current and former customers in 2019 and 2024.
A US District Judge, Ada Brown, granted preliminary approval for the settlement terms on Friday, June 20 . While the company denies responsibility for these “criminal acts,” it opted for the settlement to avoid lengthy legal battles.
AT&T confirmed these two data security incidents last year. The first breach, which began in 2019, exposed personal information for about 7.6 million current and 65.4 million former account holders. This data, including names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and passcodes, was found on the dark web, a hidden part of the internet. Hackread.com previously covered AT&T’s eventual confirmation of this breach affecting roughly 73 million users after initial speculation.
The second incident, confirmed in July last year, began in April 2024. A hacker accessed call and text records from 2022 for nearly all of AT&T’s 109 million US customers through its cloud storage provider, Snowflake. AT&T clarified that no names were linked to these stolen call records, and two individuals have been arrested in connection with this breach.
Both incidents led to multiple class-action lawsuits (legal actions brought by a group of people) alleging corporate neglect on AT&T’s part in failing to properly protect customer data. The settlement funds are split into two parts: $149 million for one breach and $28 million for the other.
How to Qualify for Payments
Current or former AT&T customers whose data was exposed in either breach may be eligible for a payout. Higher payments will go to those who can show clear proof of losses directly caused by the data leaks.
For the 2019 breach, affected individuals with documented damages could receive up to $5,000, while the maximum for the 2024 Snowflake breach is $2,500. After these prioritized payments, any remaining funds from the $177 million will be shared among other impacted customers, even those without specific proof of harm.
Notifications about eligibility are expected to be sent via email or mail between August 4 and October 17, 2025. The official process for submitting claims is set to begin on August 4, 2025, with a deadline of November 18, 2025, to submit a claim. A final court hearing for the settlement is scheduled for December 3, 2025. If approved, AT&T anticipates that payments to customers will start in early 2026.
