State notification register
District of Columbia data breach notification law: in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay.
District of Columbia's breach-notification obligations are set by D.C. Code 28-3851 et seq.. This page summarises the deadline to notify affected residents, the attorney general notification threshold, whether a private right of action exists, and the penalties for late or missing notification. Every provision is cited to its source statute and was verified in June 2026.
Individual deadline
No fixed day
Without unreasonable delay
AG notification
50
50 or more District residents
Private action
Yes
Treble damages or $1,500 per violation (whichever is greater), plus attorney fees
Statute
DC
D.C. Code 28-3851 et seq.
Section DC.1
What the statute requires
Under D.C. Code 28-3851 et seq., a business that owns or licenses computerized personal information of District of Columbia residents must notify affected individuals in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay.
Attorney general or state-agency notification is 50 or more district residents. Where required, the timeline is: no later than when residents are notified.
Section DC.2
What triggers notification
Like most US state statutes, notification is triggered by the unauthorized acquisition of unencrypted, unredacted computerized personal information that compromises its security, confidentiality, or integrity. Two concepts recur across the states and apply here.
Encryption safe harbor
Personal information that was encrypted, and where the encryption key was not also acquired, generally does not trigger notification. A stolen device with full-disk encryption is typically a non-event; an unencrypted record, or an encrypted record where the key was exposed alongside it, is a reportable breach.
Who must be notified
- [1] Affected District of Columbia residents: without unreasonable delay
- [2] Attorney general / state agency: 50 or more district residents
- [3] Consumer reporting agencies where the breach is large-scale
Section DC.3
Penalties and enforcement
Unfair or deceptive trade practice enforceable by the DC Attorney General; injunctive relief and restitution.
Private right of action: Yes. Treble damages or $1,500 per violation (whichever is greater), plus attorney fees.
Primary source:District of Columbia statute D.C. Code 28-3851 et seq.; verified June 2026 against state statutory summaries and the underlying statute text.
Section DC.4
How this compares to the strictest states
The strictest US deadlines are 30 days (California, Florida, Washington, Colorado, Maine, New York, New Jersey). The majority of states use a qualitative "without unreasonable delay" standard with no fixed day cap. Here is where District of Columbia sits.
District of Columbia does not set a numeric deadline. It uses a "without unreasonable delay" standard, which regulators interpret as days to weeks, not months. Organizations operating across multiple states should default to the strictest applicable clock, which can be as short as 30 days in states such as California, Colorado, Florida.
Cross-references
Index / All 50 states + DC
→The full register: deadline and AG threshold for every state.
Schedule 09 / Notification laws
→Global frameworks and the cost of notification.
01 / Breach cost calculator
→Estimate your District of Columbia breach exposure, including notification cost.
Regulation / GDPR
→The 72-hour clock and 4%-of-revenue fine framework.
Cost / Notification
→Why notification is roughly 6% of total breach cost.
Schedule F / Reference Q&A
Frequently Asked Questions
Primary source:District of Columbia data breach notification statute (D.C. Code 28-3851 et seq.). Provisions verified June 2026 against state statutory summaries (Recording Law US data-privacy series, 2026 edition), the IAPP US State Data Breach Notification Chart, Foley & Lardner's chart, and the underlying statute text.