How to Check if Your Personal Details Are Part of Facebook’s Massive Leak

Breitbart News recently reported that tech giant Facebook suffered a major data leak of the personal details of hundreds of millions of users. Here is how to check if your personal details have been leaked online.

Breitbart News recently reported that hackers published the phone numbers and personal data of 533 million Facebook users, including users’ full names, locations, phone numbers, and email addresses.

Via Business Insider:

A user in a low level hacking forum on Saturday published the phone numbers and personal data of hundreds of millions of Facebook users for free online.

The exposed data includes personal information of over 533 million Facebook users from 106 countries, including over 32 million records on users in the US, 11 million on users in the UK, and 6 million on users in India. It includes their phone numbers, Facebook IDs, full names, locations, birthdates, bios, and — in some cases — email addresses.

Insider reviewed a sample of the leaked data and verified several records by matching known Facebook users’ phone numbers with the IDs listed in the data set. We also verified records by testing email addresses from the data set in Facebook’s password reset feature, which can be used to partially reveal a user’s phone number.

So how can you determine whether or not your personal details (and those of your loved ones) have been leaked? Thanks to websites such as HaveIBeenPwned.com, the process is straightfoward.

Simply go to haveibeenpwned.com using your mobile device or computer, and enter your email address. If your email address has been included in leaks online, you will receive a warning to change the password associated with the email address.

It is also recommended that users enable two-factor authentication on their accounts in order to add an extra layer of security. HaveIBeenPwned.com’s search is not limited to the Facebook leak. The site will provide a full list of all the breaches that may have included users’ personal details tied to the email address entered.

Password managers such as DashLane and LastPass can also add an extra layer of security, generating and storing passwords for users’ various accounts.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com