Form: Cost-of-Breach DisclosureSource: IBM 2025Filed: 28 Apr 2026
DataBreachCost.comOpen calc
State File MN / Breach Notification StatuteMinn. Stat. 325E.61

State notification register

Minnesota data breach notification law: in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay.

Minnesota's breach-notification obligations are set by Minn. Stat. 325E.61. 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

500+

No general AG requirement (reporting agencies at 500+ residents within 48 hours)

Private action

No

Only the Minnesota Attorney General may enforce

Statute

MN

Minn. Stat. 325E.61

Section MN.1

What the statute requires

Under Minn. Stat. 325E.61, a business that owns or licenses computerized personal information of Minnesota residents must notify affected individuals in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay.

Attorney general notification: no general ag requirement (reporting agencies at 500+ residents within 48 hours).

Section MN.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 Minnesota residents: without unreasonable delay
  • [2] Attorney general / state agency: no general ag requirement (reporting agencies at 500+ residents within 48 hours)
  • [3] Consumer reporting agencies where the breach is large-scale

Section MN.3

Penalties and enforcement

Up to $25,000 per violation; contractual waivers of notification are void.

Private right of action: No. Only the Minnesota Attorney General may enforce.

Primary source:Minnesota statute Minn. Stat. 325E.61; verified June 2026 against state statutory summaries and the underlying statute text.

Section MN.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 Minnesota sits.

Minnesota 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

Schedule F / Reference Q&A

Frequently Asked Questions

Primary source:Minnesota data breach notification statute (Minn. Stat. 325E.61). 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.