Strauss Borrelli PLLC, a leading data breach law firm, is investigating Western Electrical Contractors Association, Inc. (“WECA”) regarding its recent data breach. The WECA data breach may have involved sensitive personal information belonging to over 35,000 individuals.
ABOUT WESTERN ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION, INC.:
WECA is a nonprofit electricians organization based in California. Founded in 1929, WECA promotes workforce development for the electrical and low voltage fields across the Western United States.2 Additionally, WECA offers political and public affairs efforts, networking, specialized member services, training, and workforce development in an effort to achieve its goal of promoting merit shop electrical contracting as the most valuable, qualified choice for the electrical construction industry.2 Headquartered in Rancho Cordova, California, WECA has electrician training facilities and apprenticeship programs across California, Arizona, and Utah and employs over 50 individuals.3
WHAT HAPPENED?
Recently, WECA reported to the Attorney General of California that it had experienced a data breach in which the sensitive personal information in its systems may have been accessed and acquired. According to the breach notice, earlier this year WECA discovered unusual activity on certain computer systems within its network. As a result, WECA launched an investigation to determine the nature of the incident.
Through its investigation, WECA learned that sensitive personal information in its systems may have been viewed and copied by an unauthorized third party between January 21 and January 22, 2024. As a result, WECA began a review of the data to determine what information had been impacted as well as identify the specific individuals affected. On June 27, 2024, WECA completed this review. The exact type of personal information potentially exposed has not been made publicly available by WECA. However, according to state reporting guidelines, “personal information” can include the following types of information:
- Name
- Social Security number
- Driver’s license number
- Government issued ID number (e.g., state ID card number, tax ID number, passport number, military ID number)
- Financial information (e.g., account number/credit or debit card number, in combination with password/access code)
- Medical information
- Health insurance information
- Unique biometric information
- Genetic data
On August 29, 2024, WECA mailed data breach notification letters to impacted individuals. Based on the breach notice sent to California residents, WECA is providing affected individuals with a list of the specific type of sensitive information impacted and complimentary credit monitoring services. A link to the form breach notification letters that WECA filed with the Attorney General of California is below.
If you received a breach notification letter from Western Electrical Contractors Association, Inc.:
We would like to speak with you about your rights and potential legal remedies in response to this data breach. Please fill out the form, below, or contact us at 872.263.1100 or sam@straussborrelli.com.
LINKS:
[1] https://oag.ca.gov/ecrime/databreach/reports/sb24-590975
[3] https://www.linkedin.com/company/western-electrical-contractors-association-inc-/about/
[4] https://www.maine.gov/agviewer/content/ag/985235c7-cb95-4be2-8792-a1252b4f8318/e131b820-4650-42c8-8603-f22bd6b21e3b.html
