Recently, Ameriprise Financial, Inc. confirmed that the company experienced a data breach after an unauthorized party gained access to the company’s computer network and the sensitive consumer data contained on the network. According to Ameriprise, the breach resulted in the names, Social Security numbers and account numbers of certain clients being compromised. On June 14, 2022, Ameriprise filed official notice of the breach and sent out data breach letters to all affected parties.

If you received a data breach notification, it is essential you understand what is at risk and what you can do about it. To learn more about how to protect yourself from becoming a victim of fraud or identity theft and what your legal options are in the wake of the Ameriprise Financial data breach, please see our recent piece on the topic here.

More Details on the Ameriprise Financial Data Breach

News of the Ameriprise data breach is still limited, as the company only very recently reported the incident. However, based on available information, Ameriprise self-reported the breach, which leaked customer names, Social Security numbers as well as their account numbers. In response, Ameriprise is offering free credit monitoring to affected individuals.

It is not entirely clear what led to the Ameriprise breach. However, in recent history, the company has experienced several other data breaches, which may be related to this incident. For example, on March 16, 2022, an Ameriprise representative inadvertently sent an email containing sensitive customer data to the wrong recipient. Additionally, on May 3, 2021, the company sent out faxed information to a third-party email account instead of to an Ameriprise email account. This most recent incident may be related to either of these breaches, or it could be an entirely separate incident.

On June 14, 2022, Ameriprise Financial sent out data breach letters to all individuals whose information was compromised as a result of the recent data security incident. More information is expected in the near future.

Ameriprise Financial, Inc. is a financial services company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company provides clients with a wide range of investment, banking, and insurance products focused on helping clients meet their investment, retirement, tax planning, and estate planning goals. Ameriprise Financial employs more than 12,000 people and generates approximately $12 billion in annual revenue.

What Are a Company’s Data Security Obligations?

Data breach and consumer privacy laws are extraordinarily complex. However, at their core, these laws require companies to take reasonable precautions to protect the consumer data in their possession. When customers provide their information to a business, they should be able to trust that the business will keep their personal information private. Data breach laws seek to encourage companies to live up to these obligations and to deter companies from negligent handling of consumer data.

In today’s high-tech society, hackers and cybercriminals are constantly on the prowl for ways to breach businesses’ computer systems. This is especially the case for companies in the financial sector, as these businesses often store information that can easily be used by hackers to quickly steal a victim’s identity and make unauthorized purchases, either with their money or their credit.

Given the prevalence of data breaches, most businesses understand the importance of data privacy and taking all possible steps to protect sensitive consumer data. However, as hackers develop new ways of orchestrating data breaches, organizations must remain hyper-vigilant in ensuring their data security systems stay up to date against the most current threats.

Under state and federal data breach laws, businesses that fail to provide adequate protections for consumers’ sensitive information can be held liable through a data breach lawsuit.

Data breach victims who want to learn more about their rights and whether they may be able to bring a data breach class action lawsuit should reach out to a data breach attorney for assistance.