Have I Been Pwned?
consumer security website and email alert system
Have I Been Pwned? (HIBP) is a website that allows Internet users to check whether their email address or password has been compromised by data breaches. The site has been widely touted as a valuable resource for Internet users wishing to protect their own security and privacy. Have I Been Pwned? was created by security expert Troy Hunt on 4 December 2013.
As of June 2019, Have I Been Pwned? averages around 160,000 daily visitors, the site has nearly three million active email subscribers and contains records of almost eight billion accounts.
Features
The primary function of Have I Been Pwned? since it was launched is to provide the general public with a means to check if their private information has been leaked or compromised.
The service collects and analyzes hundreds of database dumps and pastes containing information about billions of leaked accounts, and allows users to search for their own information by entering their username or email address.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Have I Been Pwned?” as consumer security website and email alert system. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as consumer security website and email alert system. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q23214788. None of the 3 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2013 and 2019.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Have I Been Pwned?”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Have I Been Pwned? primary sources, Have I Been Pwned? archive and Have research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Have I Been Pwned?”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Have I Been Pwned?” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.