Turke & Strauss LLP, a leading data breach law firm, is investigating University of the People regarding its recent data breach. The University of the People data breach involved sensitive personal identifiable information belonging to an undetermined number of individuals.
ABOUT UNIVERSITY OF THE PEOPLE:
University of the People is a fully online university offering tuition-free education services. As an online university, University of the people offers a variety of academic programs from associate degrees up to master’s programs. As a tuition free institution, University of the People offers all its courses for free, only charging assessment and certification fees. Headquartered in Pasadena, California, University of the People has over 100,000 enrolled students and employs approximately 60 individuals.
WHAT HAPPENED?
In early January 2022, University of the People discovered that it had experienced a data breach in which the sensitive personal identifiable information in its systems may have been accessed. Through its investigation, University of the People determined that an unauthorized actor may have accessed this sensitive information between January 2 and January 10, 2022. On April 4, 2023, University of the People began contacting individuals whose information may have been impacted. The exact type of personal information has not been made publicly available by the University of the People. However, according to state reporting guidelines, “personal information” can include the following types of information:
- Name
- Social Security number
- Driver’s license number or other government issued identification number
- Financial information
- Account passwords or other access codes for financial accounts
- Biometric data
- Genetic information
- Health records, including medical diagnosis, treatment or health insurance policy number
If you received a breach notification letter from University of the People:
We would like to speak with you about your rights and potential legal remedies in response to this data breach. Please fill out the form, below, or contact us at (608) 237-1775 or sam@turkestrauss.com.
If you were impacted by the University of the People data breach, you may consider taking the following steps to protect your personal information.
- Carefully review the breach notice and retain a copy;
- Enroll in any free credit monitoring services provided by University of the People;
- Change passwords and security questions for online accounts;
- Regularly review account statements for signs of fraud or unauthorized activity;
- Monitor credit reports for signs of identity theft; and
- Contact a credit bureau(s) to request a temporary fraud alert.