Factual data breach

Breach date: 2017-03-22. Added to this index: 2019-12-24. Accounts affected: about 2.5M. Domain: factual.com.

What happened

In March 2017, a file containing 8M rows of data allegedly sourced from data aggregator Factual was compiled and later exchanged on the premise it was a "breach". The data contained 2.5M unique email addresses alongside business names, addresses and phone numbers. After consultation with Factual, they advised the data was "publicly available information about businesses and other points of interest that Factual makes available on its website and to customers".

Breach data sourced from Have I Been Pwned, used under CC BY 4.0. Additional breach metadata provided by XposedOrNot. DataExposed is an independent service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by either.

What was exposed

  • Email addresses: The email address you used to register or log in. It is the most common field in breaches because it doubles as your username on most sites.
  • Employers: The name of the company or organisation you work for, collected by professional networks, job sites, insurers, lenders and many signup forms.
  • Phone numbers: Your mobile or landline number, collected at signup for contact, delivery updates, marketing and two-factor codes.
  • Physical addresses: Your residential, postal, billing or delivery address, stored by retailers, utilities, banks, government services and almost any company that sends you something.

What to do now

  1. Check whether your own address is in this dataset with the free email breach check.
  2. Review the accounts connected to this service and turn on two-factor authentication.
  3. Turn on two-factor authentication on your email account first, because it is the reset path for everything else.
  4. Treat calls and messages that quote real details about you as hostile until you verify them another way.

Frequently asked questions

What data was leaked in the Factual breach?

The Factual breach exposed Email addresses, Employers, Phone numbers, Physical addresses. About 2.5M accounts were affected.

Was I affected by the Factual breach?

Run the free email breach check with the address you used on that service. It will tell you whether your address appears in this dataset.

What should I do about the Factual breach?

Treat any message that quotes details from this breach as suspicious, turn on two-factor authentication, and consider removing your details from people-search sites if your address or phone was included.

Next steps