Several data breaches that involve 3 billion accounts, as reported by Time, made Yahoo reach a $117.5 million class-action settlement. Yahoo product users between 2012 to 2016 are eligible for a payout of as much as $358 or a free credit monitoring.
In 2016, Yahoo officially announced that the company experienced two data breaches: Data from 3 billion Yahoo users was stolen by an unauthorized third party in 2013, and in 2014, five hundred million usernames and passwords were stolen as well. As reported by Time, the 2013 breach is the largest ever known data theft.
Who is eligible to file a claim?
Anyone who was a resident of the United States or Israel and had a Yahoo account at any time between January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2016 can be eligible for a claim.
Yahoo's settlement website states that the payouts will be based on the number of eligible claims, and it is very likely to be less than $100 per person. That maximum of $358 is possible if there are funds left after all the claims have been verified. So the payout really depends on how many people file claims.
What are your options if you are eligible to file a claim?
The Yahoo settlement website is yahoodatabreachsettlement.com, and those who are affected by the Yahoo data theft can fill out a form on the settlement website and choose what settlement or claim are you filing for. Other contact details provided for the settlement concerns are info@yahoodatabreachsettlement.com and 1-844-702-2788. The deadline for filing claims is July 20, 2020.
File a claim for credit monitoring services
If you choose this option, you can receive at least two years of credit monitoring services that could be extended for up to four years depending on the number of people who filed for this claim. Identity theft monitoring, insurance covering the costs of credit repair, and daily monitoring of credit reports are included in the credit monitoring services.
Opt for a compensation
Users affected can file a claim for the existing compensation offered, or an alternative compensation or a specified reimbursement for costs or loss of time that the breach has caused. Depending on the steps you have done to repair your credit or deal with losses because of the data breach, you can itemize those expenses to request for a reimbursement.
Opt out of the existing settlement to file a separate settlement
If you don't believe that the settlement is fair based on your unique situation like suffering from significant losses or harm because of the data breach, you can take legal action by filing a separate settlement.
Other options and information available on the settlement website are about filing claims for Yahoo users who paid for premium or ads-free Yahoo mail services and filing claims for small business costs. Also, it is announced on the website that if eligible people for the claims literally do nothing about the settlement, that means they will not be eligible to sue or take any legal action about the data breaches once the settlement becomes final.
And for those who find videos more helpful, Yahoo posted an instructional video on how to file a claim.
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