YouNow data breach (2019): was your email exposed?
YouNow (younow.com) suffered a data breach in February 2019 that exposed around 18 million accounts. The leaked records included email addresses, ip addresses, names, social media profiles and usernames. Check whether your email was caught up in it — and lock down your accounts before the data is misused.
Check if my email was exposed — free →What happened in the YouNow breach?
YouNow (younow.com) was hit by a data breach dated February 2019, exposing around 18 million accounts. Incidents like this happen when attackers break into a company’s user database, or when a misconfigured server or third-party partner leaks it — and the stolen records then spread among other criminals.
The exposed records included email addresses, ip addresses, names, social media profiles and usernames. Leaked data doesn’t simply disappear: it gets copied, sold and re-posted across breach forums and dark-web markets for years. That’s why your information from the YouNow breach can still be abused long after the original incident — and why checking your exposure and locking down your accounts matters even now.
What data was exposed in the YouNow breach?
The YouNow breach exposed email addresses, ip addresses, names, social media profiles and usernames. The more of these are tied to you, the more ways an attacker can impersonate you or break into your other accounts.
How the leaked YouNow data can be used against you
Because the YouNow breach exposed email addresses, ip addresses, names, social media profiles and usernames, your email address becomes a target for convincing phishing, often referencing this very breach to look legitimate; and your IP address hints at your location and helps link your activity across sites.
How to check if you were affected
The leaked records themselves aren’t published openly, so the way to know is to check your email against known breach and dark-web databases. Our free tool does exactly that in a few seconds — no account needed.
Check my email against known breaches — free →What to do if your YouNow account was breached
These steps are prioritized for exactly the kind of data the YouNow breach exposed.
Add 2FA — ideally an authenticator app or a passkey rather than SMS — to your email, banking and other important accounts, so a stolen password alone can’t get in.
Scammers reference real breaches to sound credible, so treat any email mentioning YouNow with suspicion, and never use a password-reset link you didn’t request — go to the site directly instead.
Leaked data is resold for years, so a one-time clean-up isn’t enough. Ongoing breach and dark-web monitoring tells you the moment your details reappear, so you can act before an account is misused.
The YouNow breach, answered
Was my email in the YouNow breach?
You can find out in seconds with our free breach and dark-web check — enter your email and it tells you whether it appears in the YouNow breach and other known incidents.
When did the YouNow breach happen?
The YouNow data breach is dated February 2019 and exposed roughly 18 million accounts. Note that breached data often surfaces and is resold long after the original date.
What data was exposed in the YouNow breach?
The exposed records included email addresses, ip addresses, names, social media profiles and usernames. Around 18 million accounts were affected.
What should I do after the YouNow breach?
Change your YouNow password and any reused passwords, turn on two-factor authentication, watch for phishing that references YouNow, and monitor whether your details resurface on the dark web.
Was your email in the YouNow breach?
Check free in about a minute — then we’ll help you remove your exposed data and keep it monitored.
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