State notification register
Maine data breach notification law: as expediently as possible and without unreasonable delay.
Maine's breach-notification obligations are set by 10 M.R.S. 1346 et seq. (Notice of Risk to Personal Data Act). 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
30 days
From discovery / determination
AG notification
Required
All breaches (no minimum resident threshold)
Private action
No
No express PROA
Statute
ME
10 M.R.S. 1346 et seq.
Section ME.1
What the statute requires
Under 10 M.R.S. 1346 et seq., the Notice of Risk to Personal Data Act, a business that owns or licenses computerized personal information of Maine residents must notify affected individuals as expediently as possible and without unreasonable delay, no later than 30 days after discovery.
Attorney general or state-agency notification is all breaches (no minimum resident threshold). Where required, the timeline is: within the same 30-day window.
Section ME.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 Maine residents: 30 days
- [2] Attorney general / state agency: all breaches (no minimum resident threshold)
- [3] Consumer reporting agencies where the breach is large-scale
Section ME.3
Penalties and enforcement
Up to $500 per violation, capped at $2,500 per day; equitable relief available.
Private right of action: No. No express PROA; claims may run through the Unfair Trade Practices Act.
Primary source:Maine statute 10 M.R.S. 1346 et seq. (Notice of Risk to Personal Data Act); verified June 2026 against state statutory summaries and the underlying statute text.
Section ME.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 Maine sits.
Maine imposes a fixed 30-day deadline. That places it among the strictest states in the country.
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 Maine 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:Maine data breach notification statute (10 M.R.S. 1346 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.