There are many ways to study data breaches. Analyzing breach locations, demographic information, time of breaches compared to location, web descriptions (keywords) and company management and trainings are some of the top ways to gather data. It is important to read and understand each state’s definition of breach, as well as personally identifiable information (PII). Some states do not consider sensitive documents such as medical records and biometric information to be covered under the terms “personally identifiable information” or “breach”. This might mean that some states with more relaxed PII laws could be easier to conduct research on. Another way to study data breaches is trend analysis. As each year sees new reports emerge, researchers can analyze and compare breaches and incidents to previous years and compare that to the different ways to study breaches. Another way to study breaches is including what new technology, programs and social trends came out during the research process.