"This statement is knowingly false and defamatory. Advisors' retention of their customers' information was not a 'data breach or an 'incident,' nor was it 'unauthorized,'" LPL claimed. LPL also criticized Ameriprise's "specific and unnecessary" reference to LPL in the notice, but an Ameriprise spokesperson said the firm was duty-bound to inform clients of the alleged breach. "Let's be clear—the steps we took to inform impacted individuals their data had been compromised were completely lawful and contemplated by a federal court order to which LPL agreed," the spokesperson said. However, LPL now says that Ameriprise still refuses to tell them which LPL clients have been contacted via this notice, which allegedly puts LPL in the position of proactively reaching out to all its customers (provoking further panic) or waiting for agitated clients to contact them. "At this very moment, unidentified customers are receiving false and misleading letters claiming their 'data' has been 'breached,'" the suit reads.