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Attorney General James Sues National General and Allstate Insurance for Failing to Protect New Yorkers’ Personal Information

National General and Allstate Insurance CompanyMarch 10, 2025New York Attorney General

Consumers Affected

165,000

Summary

New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against National General and Allstate Insurance Company for two data breaches in 2020 and 2021 that exposed the driver’s license numbers of over 165,000 New York residents. The AG alleges National General failed to implement reasonable data security measures, did not notify consumers or state agencies of the first breach, and left systems vulnerable to a second larger breach after Allstate took over data security operations. The AG is seeking monetary penalties and an injunction to prevent further violations.

Remedy

Attorney General James is seeking monetary penalties for National General’s failure to implement reasonable data security safeguards and notify consumers of breaches, along with an injunction to stop any continued violations. No final remedies have been imposed as the enforcement action is a pending lawsuit.

Monetary PenaltyInjunction

Contract Impact

In-house legal teams at insurance companies and their vendors should review all data security provisions in vendor agreements to ensure they require reasonable safeguards against automated attacks, including monitoring for unauthorized access and breach detection protocols. Contracts should include clear breach notification timelines that comply with applicable state laws, specifically requiring prompt notice to consumers and regulators in the event of a data breach exposing personal information like driver’s license numbers. Additionally, clauses governing the protection of government-issued identification data (e.g., driver’s license numbers) should be updated to require encryption or masking of such data in public-facing systems, and to mandate that vendors notify the company immediately of any security incidents. Teams should also verify that contracts with acquired entities include provisions requiring the acquiring party to maintain or enhance existing data security measures post-acquisition.

Contract Search Terms

data security safeguardsbreach notification timelinedriver’s license data protectionautomated attack mitigationsecurity monitoring requirementsbreach detection protocolsthird-party data security controls

Laws Cited

New York state consumer protection and business lawsNew York data security and breach notification law

Violation Types

Entity Details

Entity

National General and Allstate Insurance Company

Industry

Insurance

Official Sources

Source Evidence

Entity Name
"filed a lawsuit against several insurance companies doing business as National General and Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate)"
Event Date
"March 10, 2025"
Jurisdiction
"New York Attorney General Letitia James"
Event Type
"filed a lawsuit against several insurance companies doing business as National General and Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate)"
Violation Types
"suffered a pair of back-to-back data breaches that exposed the driver’s license numbers of more than 165,000 New Yorkers"
Violation Types
"failure to implement reasonable data security measures"

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