The severity of storing plain text passwords did not go unnoticed by the legal system. A class action lawsuit was filed against WildWorks in the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming (Case 2:21-cv-00090).
Consequently, lists containing millions of plaintext Animal Jam passwords quickly began circulating on hacking forums and the dark web. The Immediate Fallout and Response
The numbers are staggering. While the official breach notification to regulators (sent to the Wyoming Attorney General) claimed approximately accounts were affected, security analysts and Have I Been Pwned (HIBP) founder Troy Hunt analyzed the data and suggested the number of unique email addresses was closer to 32 million . Animal Jam Data Breach Passwords
In October 2020, WildWorks, the developer of Animal Jam , suffered a major data breach. A hacker gained access to a backup database containing user information. Initially, the company alerted users about a “security incident.” But by early 2021, it was confirmed that had been stolen.
As of late 2025 and early 2026, there are at Animal Jam. However, the 2020 incident continues to serve as a reminder for families to maintain good security hygiene. Users occasionally report lingering concerns about account safety on community forums, but the official systems remain secure. The severity of storing plain text passwords did
Log into the Animal Jam Parent Tools portal or the player account and update the password immediately. Create a completely unique string of characters that has never been used on any other website. 2. Audit Reused Passwords
In late 2020, WildWorks, the parent company of the popular children’s virtual world Animal Jam, confirmed a massive data breach. The incident exposed the personal information of millions of users, raising severe privacy concerns for parents and cybersecurity experts alike. While the company acted quickly to secure its systems, the exposure of account data highlighted the ongoing risks to younger internet users and the critical importance of password security. How the Breach Happened The Immediate Fallout and Response The numbers are
If you used the same password for other sites, change those immediately. Experts at Microsoft Support recommend using a password monitor or manager to keep track of unique logins.
: Full names and billing addresses for a subset of accounts. Was your password leaked?
