Data breach check
Has your information been exposed? The tools to find out, what the results mean, and what to do next.
A data breach check tells you whether your personal information — email address, passwords, phone number, or more — has been exposed in a known data breach. BLACKEYES runs a free breach check on the homepage, and goes further: it shows which of your details actually leaked, then finds the data brokers and open-web listings a breach lookup can’t see. If you’re found in a breach, the practical response is the same: change the exposed password, change any reused passwords elsewhere, enable two-factor authentication on important accounts, and watch for targeted phishing. In the UK, organisations affected by breaches must report to the ICO within 72 hours. You can’t remove your data from breach archives once it’s out, but you can find and delete everything else that’s exposed — and minimise future exposure.
What data actually leaks
Not every breach leaks everything. The fields attackers value most — and that show up most often in breach data.
Email address
The most commonly exposed field — if you’ve signed up for anything online in the last decade, your email is almost certainly in at least one breach.
Passwords
Often hashed but frequently cracked. Passwords from older breaches circulate openly in wordlists used by attackers for credential-stuffing attacks.
Names and dates of birth
Commonly exposed in breaches from retailers, professional networks, and healthcare providers. The pair is enough to start identity-fraud work.
Phone numbers and addresses
Home addresses from loyalty schemes or delivery services, phone numbers from two-factor authentication systems. Both useful to attackers for social-engineering.
Financial information
Card numbers (often truncated), bank details, or billing information from compromised payment processors. Rare in full but happens.
How far a breach check goes
Three levels of checking — from a bare breach lookup to a full exposure report that also removes what it finds.
Basic breach lookup
Strengths: Instant — tells you which known breaches your email appears in.
Limits: Narrow. Only answers “which breaches” — not what was actually cracked, not your current password safety, and nothing about the data brokers selling your address or the wider picture.
Password monitoring
Strengths: Built into most browsers and password managers — flags saved passwords that show up in breaches.
Limits: Only covers passwords you’ve saved there, and only breaches — it can’t see broker or open-web exposure.
Full exposure check (BLACKEYES)
Strengths: Goes beyond which-breaches: the leaked fields in detail, the data brokers and people-search sites listing you — including UK sources — and everything tied to you on the open web, in one report. Then it removes it.
Limits: More than a one-off yes/no breach lookup — it’s built to find and delete your exposure, not just flag it.
What to do if you’re in a breach
Most people’s emails are in multiple breaches already. That’s normal, not catastrophic. What matters is the response.
Change the password on the breached service
Unique, long, and generated by a password manager. Don’t reuse a password you’ve used anywhere else.
Change reused passwords elsewhere
The real danger of a breach is credential reuse. If the breached site had a password you used on other accounts, those are now also at risk — change them too.
Enable 2FA on important accounts
Email, banking, social media, password manager. Use an authenticator app or hardware key — not SMS.
Watch for targeted phishing
Attackers use breach data to send personalised phishing emails — mentioning the real service you used, the real password you had. Be extra suspicious of "security alert" emails right after a breach.
Report UK breaches to the ICO if you’re an organisation
Under UK GDPR, organisations must report notifiable personal-data breaches to the ICO within 72 hours. Individuals affected by a breach can also file complaints with the ICO if they believe their rights have not been respected.
Consider a credit freeze
If financial or identity data was exposed, a credit freeze with Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion blocks new credit applications in your name until you unfreeze.
Beyond the breach list
A breach check answers "is my email in a breach". Useful, but incomplete. The bigger question is: what could someone piece together about you from the breach data plus everything else that’s exposed — the brokers selling your address, the old accounts, the open web?
BLACKEYES combines breach exposure with the data brokers selling your address, the open & dark web, public records and paste sites into one picture of what's exposed about you — then removes it with automated GDPR & CCPA erasure requests. Not just a breach answer: find it, then get it taken down.
Frequently asked questions
My email is in a breach — am I at immediate risk?
Not necessarily immediate, but your exposure is higher. Attackers use breach data in two main ways: credential stuffing (trying your leaked password against other sites) and targeted phishing (using real information about you to craft convincing scams). The practical response is the same whether the risk is immediate or not — change the relevant passwords, enable 2FA, and stay alert for phishing.
How often should I check for new breaches?
Set up ongoing monitoring rather than manual checks — something that re-checks automatically and alerts you when your email turns up in a new breach. Better still, monitor your broker and open-web exposure at the same time, not just breaches, since that’s where fresh listings of your address and phone appear.
Can I remove my data from a breach?
No — once data is out, it’s out. Breach archives are copied and re-shared across the internet; there is no single entity to request removal from. What you can do is change the exposed passwords, request erasure from the original company (they’re obliged under UK GDPR to delete data they no longer need), and minimise the data you give to services going forward.
What’s the difference between a data breach and a hack?
Terms are used loosely. A “breach” usually means a company’s database of user records was exposed — through attack, misconfiguration, or insider action. A “hack” is more specific: unauthorised access to systems. Most data breaches are the result of a hack, but not always — misconfigured cloud storage causes plenty of breaches with no attacker involved.
Is checking my own data in a breach legal?
Yes. Checking whether your own email appears in known breaches is lawful and encouraged by security authorities including the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre. BLACKEYES only ever checks your own data — the email address you sign in with.
Should I pay for breach monitoring?
Free tools tell you you’re exposed but stop there. Paid makes sense when you want the data actually removed, not just monitored — which is what BLACKEYES does: find your exposure across breaches, brokers and the open web, send erasure requests, and keep watch for new exposure.
Check your full exposure
Not just which breaches — what’s connected to you, what’s been surfaced, and what an attacker could piece together.
Reports are tools, not conclusive judgements — verify material findings before reliance. See the FAQ