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Major Corporate Data Breach Fines and HIPAA Violations (Updated 2025)

Data breaches are no longer “IT problems.” They are board-level events that can erase profit, crush brand trust, and invite years of regulatory scrutiny.

One wrong move with customer or patient data can trigger:

  • Multi-million-dollar fines

  • Class-action lawsuits

  • Permanent damage to your brand’s reputation

Use the examples below as a reality check: regulators are clearly signaling that weak security and sloppy privacy practices are now extremely expensive.

Part 1: Large Corporation Breaches and Fines (Not HIPAA)

These are headline-making breaches and privacy violations at major brands across tech, retail, finance, and telecom. The exact dollar amounts may shift with appeals and additional settlements, but the order of magnitude is what matters.

Record-Setting Corporate Privacy & Data Breach Penalties

  1. Facebook / Meta – $5 Billion FTC Privacy Fine
    The FTC fined Facebook $5 billion for violating a prior privacy order and mishandling user data in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. It remains one of the largest privacy fines ever issued by a U.S. regulator.

  2. Equifax – Up to $700 Million Over Credit-Bureau Breach
    A 2017 breach exposed highly sensitive data (including Social Security numbers) of about 147 million people. Equifax later agreed to a global settlement worth up to $700 million, including consumer compensation and regulatory penalties.

  3. Amazon – €746M (≈$800M) GDPR Fine
    Luxembourg’s data protection authority hit Amazon with a €746 million fine for unlawful processing of personal data under GDPR. Courts in 2025 upheld the penalty, confirming one of the largest privacy fines in EU history.

  4. Epic Games (Fortnite) – $520 Million FTC Settlement
    Epic agreed to pay $520 million (split between a children’s privacy penalty and consumer refunds) over allegations of collecting kids’ data without proper consent and using deceptive “dark patterns” to drive in-game purchases.

  5. T-Mobile – $350 Million Settlement + $150 Million in Security Spend
    After a 2021 attack exposed data on roughly 76–79 million people, T-Mobile agreed to a $350 million class-action settlement, plus $150 million earmarked for security upgrades over two years. Additional regulatory scrutiny and lawsuits continue.

  6. Home Depot – Around $200 Million in Breach-Related Costs
    A point-of-sale breach at Home Depot exposed more than 50 million card numbers and over 50 million email addresses. Aggregated settlements and remediation pushed total costs to roughly $179–200 million.

  7. Target – $18.5 Million Multi-State AG Settlement
    Target’s 2013 breach led to an $18.5 million settlement with 47 states and DC – at the time, the largest multistate data-breach settlement – plus tens of millions more in related costs and security remediation.

  8. British Airways – £20 Million GDPR Fine
    Malware on BA’s website compromised data from more than 400,000 customers. The UK ICO fined the airline £20 million, citing poor security and delayed detection.

  9. Marriott – £18.4 Million GDPR Fine
    A long-running breach in Starwood’s reservation system (later acquired by Marriott) exposed about 339 million guest records globally. The ICO fined Marriott £18.4 million for failing to secure that data.

  10. Yahoo – $35 Million SEC Fine Over Delayed Breach Disclosure
    Yahoo’s massive account breaches from 2013–2014 led to a $35 million SEC penalty for failing to promptly disclose the incidents to investors – a reminder that securities regulators also care about cyber disclosures.

  11. Google / YouTube – $170 Million Children’s Privacy Fine
    Google and YouTube paid $170 million over allegations of illegally collecting children’s data without parental consent, underscoring that kids’ privacy is a top enforcement priority.

  12. Twitter (now X) – $150 Million FTC Fine
    Twitter was fined $150 million for using phone numbers and emails collected for security purposes (2FA) to also target advertising, violating earlier FTC orders and user trust.

  13. Uber – $148 Million Multi-State Settlement
    After failing to promptly disclose a 2016 breach that exposed 600,000 U.S. driver records, Uber paid $148 million in a multistate settlement and agreed to new cybersecurity oversight.

  14. Morgan Stanley – Over $100 Million for Data Disposal Failures
    Morgan Stanley paid a string of penalties totaling well over $100 million, including a $35 million SEC fine, after decommissioned servers and storage devices containing unencrypted customer data were improperly disposed of and resold.

  15. EyeMed Vision Care – $5 Million Breach Settlement
    EyeMed agreed to a $5 million settlement after a 2020 breach exposed vision-benefits data, including insurance and Medicare/Medicaid details. Impacted individuals can claim thousands of dollars in documented expenses plus credit monitoring.

  16. 23andMe – Up to $50 Million Genetic Data Breach Settlement
    Following a 2023 breach that exposed sensitive genetic and personal data from roughly 6.4 million customers, 23andMe has proposed an expanded settlement fund of up to $50 million in bankruptcy court, alongside long-term monitoring services.

  17. Capita – £14 Million ICO Fine for 2023 Cyberattack
    UK outsourcing giant Capita was fined £14 million after attackers stole nearly a terabyte of data, impacting more than 6 million individuals and hundreds of pension schemes. Investigators highlighted long-standing security weaknesses and slow incident response.

  18. Tracking & Pixels – A Growing Source of Risk
    Regulators have begun targeting online tracking tools (pixels, cookies, analytics scripts) that leak personal data. In just one recent year, enforcement actions tied to hidden website tracking issues added up to nearly $10 million in penalties, signaling that even marketing tools are now a frontline privacy risk.

Bottom line: regulators now expect mature security, privacy-by-design, and honest disclosures. Cutting corners on any of these can cost more than the IT budget you saved.

Part 2: Recent Medical / HIPAA Breaches and Fines

Healthcare sits at the intersection of highly sensitive data and strict regulation. Medical records are more valuable on the black market than credit cards, and HIPAA gives regulators powerful tools to punish sloppy handling of PHI.

In a single recent year:

  • U.S. healthcare organizations reported more than 700 breaches of 500+ records

  • Over 130 million patient records were exposed

  • HIPAA enforcement actions have accumulated well over $100 million in penalties since the law took effect

Here are some of the most important recent HIPAA breach and enforcement examples.

Landmark HIPAA Breach Settlements

  1. Anthem – $16 Million Record HIPAA Settlement
    A cyberattack on Anthem’s systems exposed the protected health information (PHI) of nearly 79 million people. The case ended with a $16 million HIPAA settlement, still the largest single HIPAA enforcement payment to date.

  2. Premera Blue Cross – $6.85 Million
    Premera paid $6.85 million after a breach affecting more than 10 million individuals. Regulators cited inadequate risk analysis and weak security controls.

  3. Excellus Health Plan – $5.1 Million
    Excellus agreed to a $5.1 million settlement after attackers maintained access to its systems for over a year, compromising data for about 9 million people, including Social Security and financial information.

  4. Large Health Insurer – $5.1 Million CMP
    In another case, OCR imposed a $5.1 million civil money penalty on a health insurer for systemic Security Rule failures that led to a major breach, emphasizing that long-term non-compliance can be just as costly as a single attack.

  5. L.A. Care Health Plan – $1.3 Million
    L.A. Care, the largest publicly operated health plan in the U.S., paid $1.3 million to resolve multiple incidents where members’ PHI was exposed via member portals and mailed communications. Basic access control and quality-assurance failures were key themes.

New Wave: Ransomware, Web Tracking, and Access Failures

  1. Gulf Coast Pain Consultants – $1.19 Million CMP
    A Florida pain-management practice was hit with a $1.19 million penalty for failing to terminate former staff access to systems containing ePHI, among other Security Rule violations. A simple off-boarding failure turned into a million-dollar problem.

  2. Children’s Hospital Colorado – $548,265 Penalty
    Children’s Hospital Colorado was fined over $500,000 for HIPAA Privacy and Security Rule issues, including improper access and disclosure of PHI. Pediatric data continues to receive extra regulatory attention.

  3. Ransomware and Basic Security Gaps
    In several recent cases, OCR has fined hospitals and medical groups in the hundreds of thousands of dollars range after ransomware incidents exposed PHI. Repeated themes: no thorough risk analysis, unpatched systems, missing backups, and weak incident response planning.

  4. Warby Parker – $1.5 Million CMP
    As an example of how consumer brands offering health services are now in scope, Warby Parker was hit with a $1.5 million HIPAA penalty tied to Security Rule violations in its digital infrastructure.

  5. Website Tracking Technologies – Nearly $10 Million in Penalties in One Year
    OCR has started targeting website tracking technologies (pixels, analytic scripts, ad tools) that leak PHI from patient portals, appointment forms, and online check-in flows. In a recent enforcement wave, roughly $9.9 million in penalties was tied to hidden browser-level data flows.

Smaller Practices Are Not Safe Either

Headlines focus on giant health plans, but a growing share of HIPAA penalties now land on small and mid-sized providers:

  • Many recent OCR financial penalties have been against small practices, local hospitals, and clinics.

  • Dental, behavioral health, dermatology, and specialty practices have been fined anywhere from $10,000 to $80,000+ for:

    • Ignoring patient “right of access” requests

    • Posting PHI in online reviews or social media replies

    • Losing unencrypted laptops or USB drives

    • Allowing snooping by staff without proper monitoring

For a small practice with thin margins, even a $50,000 penalty can be devastating—before counting breach notification costs, legal fees, and lost patients.

Healthcare Breach Volume Keeps Climbing

On top of formal penalties, the raw number of healthcare breaches continues to surge:

  • Recent years have set records both for number of reported healthcare breaches and total records exposed.

  • Single incidents at regional health systems have affected over a million patients at once, disrupting appointments, billing, and clinical operations for weeks.

What These Fines Really Signal

Across both corporate and healthcare sectors, the pattern is clear:

  • Regulators are done with warnings. Multi-hundred-million-dollar fines are now common for large players, and six-figure penalties are routine for smaller organizations.

  • Security basics matter. Many cases involve missing risk assessments, outdated systems, weak off-boarding, or unencrypted devices — not sophisticated, unstoppable attacks.

  • Marketing & tracking tools are under the microscope. Website pixels, analytics scripts, and cookie-based tracking on consumer and patient-facing sites are now a frontline privacy and HIPAA risk.

  • Small organizations are easy targets for enforcement. Lower dollar amounts still hurt when margins are thin, and the reputational damage can be permanent.

Taken together, these fines and breach stories are a live case study in why robust security, privacy-by-design, and continuous HIPAA / data-protection compliance are no longer optional — they are a core part of staying in business