About Breach Check Guide

Plain English guides on data breaches, account security and identity protection.

What this site is

Breach Check Guide helps people in the United States understand data breaches and respond calmly: how to check whether an email address appeared in a known breach using free tools, what the results mean, and the practical steps that follow, from passwords and two-factor authentication to credit freezes and reporting identity theft.

What this site is not

  • We do not run a breach scanner and there are no forms on this site. We never ask for your email address, passwords or Social Security number.
  • We are not a government agency, a credit bureau or an identity protection company.
  • We are not OmniWatch, Have I Been Pwned, Mozilla or any other company we write about.

How we write our guides

  • We lead with the free steps. Most of what protects you after a breach costs nothing.
  • We base facts on primary sources, such as the FTC, CFPB, CISA, IRS and the companies' own websites and terms, and link to them at the end of each guide.
  • When we mention a paid service, we state its price, billing period, renewal and refund terms as published by the company, with the date we checked them.
  • We avoid alarm. A breach is a reason to take a few sensible steps, not a reason to panic.

Who runs it

The site is published by Costa Launch LLC, a small company based in The Woodlands, Texas. The site is funded in part by affiliate links, as described in the footer of every page.

Corrections

Found something out of date or wrong? Email [email protected]. We review every correction.