A Privacy Shield in the Wake of AT&T Data Breaches

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Purism

Beautiful, Secure, Privacy-Respecting Laptops, Tablets, PCs, and Phones

Latest posts by Purism (see all)

• Introducing the Librem PQC Comms Server - August 27, 2025
• A Privacy Shield in the Wake of AT&T Data Breaches - August 26, 2025
• FTC Issues Letters to Big Tech: No Back Doors - August 25, 2025

Purism AweSIM: A Privacy Shield in the Wake of AT&T Data Breaches

AT&T was found liable to pay customers an estimated $177M to resolve multiple lawsuits stemming from two separate data breaches – March 30 and July 12, 2024. Both breaches exposed huge amounts of Personal Identifiable Information (PII) to the public.

These two breaches represent much more than the typical security incident, — they were a full‑scale privacy implosion. Two separate events, two different breach vectors, one result: millions of complete identity dossiers released into permanent circulation. Social Security numbers, account passcodes, and call metadata were all released to the public.

Background and Purism’s AweSIM

Most major cellular carriers seek to build unified customer profiles — stitching together your name, billing info, device identifiers, and behavioral patterns to track you across devices and monetize your movements. It’s a data monetization model that’s happening without meaningful user consent.

At Purism, we reject that model outright. Librem AweSIM was designed to break the link between your identity and your mobile activity. When you activate service through Purism, your phone number is registered under our name — not yours — shielding your personal and financial data from carriers and data brokers alike. That means by default you start with no targeted ads, no behavioral profiling, and no silent aggregation of your digital footprint.

This isn’t just a privacy feature — it’s a structural firewall against the telecom industry’s data extraction economy. By removing your name from the carrier’s ledger and never sharing it to data brokers, we ensure your mobile presence remains yours alone. No cross-device tracking. No ad targeting. No compromise.

In short: where others build identifiers to sell you, we build barriers to protect you. That’s the Purism difference.

AT&T Hacks: A More Detailed Look At What Went Wrong

• Excessive Retention of Sensitive Data — AT&T kept Social Security numbers, account passcodes, and legacy customer records for years after accounts were closed, violating data minimization and timely deletion principles.
• Poor Vendor Data Governance — A third‑party cloud provider stored live, linkable call and text metadata without end‑to‑end encryption under AT&T’s own key control, creating an unnecessary attack surface.
• Identity–Activity Coupling — Personal Identifiable Information (PII) was stored alongside behavioral metadata, increasing re‑identification risk and breaking data segregation principles.
• Lack of Least Privilege and Segmented Access — Attackers were able to extract large datasets in a single go, indicating weak access controls.
• Reactive Security Posture — Systemic weaknesses were only disclosed or addressed after data surfaced in the public, showing inadequate intrusion detection and anomaly monitoring.

The Purism Approach

This is exactly the scenario Purism designs against. We treat personal data as a liability, minimizing collection, enforcing cryptographic separation between identifiers and activity, and purging aggressively when it’s no longer needed. We do not want your data, we use the minimum we need to provide you the products and services requested, it is your digital life and you should be in complete control of it.

Learn more:  https://puri.sm/products/librem-awesim/

Purism Products and Availability Chart

	Model	Status	Lead Time
	Librem Key (Made in USA)	In Stock ($59+)	10 business days	Learn More Buy Now
	Liberty Phone (Made in USA Electronics)	In Stock ($1,999+) 4GB/128GB	10 business days	Learn More Buy Now
	Librem 5	In Stock ($799+) 3GB/32GB	10 business days	Learn More Buy Now
	Librem 11	In Stock ($999+) 8GB/1TB	10 business days	Learn More Buy Now
	Librem 14	Out of stock	New Version in Development	Coming Soon
	Librem Mini	Out of stock	New Version in Development	Coming Soon
	Librem Server	In Stock ($2,999+)	45 business days	Learn More Buy Now
	Librem PQC Encryptor	Available Now, contact sales@puri.sm	90 business days	Learn More Contact Us
	Librem PQC Comms Server	Available Now, contact sales@puri.sm	90 business days	Learn More Contact Us