State notification register
Maryland data breach notification law: within 45 days after discovery or notification of the breach.
Maryland's breach-notification obligations are set by Md. Code, Com. Law 14-3504. 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
45 days
From discovery / determination
AG notification
Required
All breaches (AG notified before individual notices are sent)
Private action
No
No PROA under the breach statute
Statute
MD
Md. Code, Com. Law 14-3504
Section MD.1
What the statute requires
Under Md. Code, Com. Law 14-3504, a business that owns or licenses computerized personal information of Maryland residents must notify affected individuals within 45 days after discovery or notification of the breach.
Attorney general or state-agency notification is all breaches (ag notified before individual notices are sent). Where required, the timeline is: before individual notifications are sent.
Section MD.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 Maryland residents: 45 days
- [2] Attorney general / state agency: all breaches (ag notified before individual notices are sent)
- [3] Consumer reporting agencies where the breach is large-scale
Section MD.3
Penalties and enforcement
Unfair or deceptive trade practice; up to $10,000 per violation, $25,000 per repeat violation.
Private right of action: No. No PROA under the breach statute; AG enforcement only.
Primary source:Maryland statute Md. Code, Com. Law 14-3504; verified June 2026 against state statutory summaries and the underlying statute text.
Section MD.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 Maryland sits.
Maryland imposes a fixed 45-day deadline. The strictest states cut this to 30 days, so Maryland sits 15 days behind the tightest regimes.
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 Maryland 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:Maryland data breach notification statute (Md. Code, Com. Law 14-3504). 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.