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Virtual data rooms in Alaska

Virtual data rooms for Alaska firms

Alaska has 371 real estate offices, 389 accounting and tax firms, 301 law offices and 186 securities and investment firms with paid employees. Our read of its breach notice rule covers information in any form, the expeditious timing standard, and the Attorney General step in the no-harm route. ShareAndGo is a virtual data room for the documents these firms share during deals, audits and legal matters.

The firms that share confidential documents in Alaska

County Business Patterns counted 22,178 employer establishments in Alaska in 2023. Per person, among the 50 states and DC, Alaska comes 6th for accounting, tax, bookkeeping and payroll firms, at 52.8 per 100,000, 19th for offices of real estate agents and brokers, at 50.4, and 43rd for securities and investment firms, at 25.3. Law offices number 301, or 40.9 per 100,000, which is 35th.

These are mostly small businesses. 219 of the state's law offices and 156 of its securities and investment firms have fewer than five employees.

  • Offices of lawyers: 301
  • Accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services: 389
  • Securities and investment firms: 186
  • Corporate and regional managing offices: 141
  • Offices of real estate agents and brokers: 371

Where those firms are

The Anchorage, AK metro has 225 of Alaska's 301 law offices, 75 percent, and our Anchorage page goes through its figures in detail. Fairbanks-College follows with 26.

By county, Anchorage Municipality leads with 207 law offices, ahead of Fairbanks North Star Borough (26), Matanuska-Susitna Borough (18) and Kenai Peninsula Borough (16). Those four hold 89 percent of the state's total.

What sets Anchorage apart

Anchorage's business mix leans furthest toward commercial fishing, with 41 establishments at 10.0 times the national share; air transportation (64, 9.7 times) and scenic and sightseeing transportation (29, 6.5 times) come next.

How Alaska compares

The Census Bureau estimated Alaska's population at 740,133 in July 2024, up 0.9 percent from the April 2020 base of 733,395.

On law offices per 100,000 residents, Alaska sits next to Nebraska at 41.1 and Kentucky at 39.8, against 40.9 here. Across the 50 states and DC the combined rate is 49.1.

Small offices make up 73 percent of the state's law offices, against 72 percent across the 50 states and DC.

Alaska's breach notice rule

Alaska's breach duties are part of the Alaska Personal Information Protection Act, codified at AS 45.48.010 to 45.48.090.

A covered person who owns or licenses personal information on a state resident, and who discovers or is notified of a breach, must disclose the breach to each state resident whose information was subject to it. Alaska gives no day count. The words in the statute are "in the most expeditious time possible and without unreasonable delay."

Because there is no fixed number of days, the pace of the investigation becomes the practical measure. A business that can show what it learned and when is better placed to explain why its timing was expeditious.

The no-harm route and the Attorney General

Disclosure to individuals is not required if, after an appropriate investigation and after written notification to the attorney general of this state, the covered person determines there is not a reasonable likelihood that harm to the affected consumers has resulted or will result. Choosing that route also means keeping the written determination for five years.

Put plainly, the Attorney General in Alaska hears about a breach when a business relies on the no-harm exception, and that notice comes before the decision not to tell individuals. Separately, when more than 1,000 residents are notified, the nationwide consumer reporting agencies must also be told under AS 45.48.040.

Our Alaska breach notification page sets out the data elements and the rule in full, and says which text we checked. This is general information, not legal advice.

What a ShareAndGo room gives an Alaska team

For documents you share through ShareAndGo, the activity log records every view and download, and watermarked view-only pages carry the reader's email address and the date.

Each data room has a watermark setting that is on by default, so whatever a reader views in the room shows their address and the viewing date. Groups see only the folders assigned to them, which keeps the list of people who could have opened a file short. Recipients confirm their email with a six-digit code and need no account. The chained log exports to CSV, giving an investigator a dated list of who opened which document inside the room.

The courts and regulators behind Alaska paperwork

Federal cases from Alaska are heard in the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska. CPAs practicing in Alaska are licensed by the Alaska Board of Public Accountancy.

Alaska FAQ

How many law offices are there in Alaska?
County Business Patterns 2023 counted 301 offices of lawyers with paid employees in Alaska, 219 of them with fewer than five employees. Anchorage Municipality has the most, 207.
Does Alaska's rule cover paper files?
Yes. The duty applies to personal information in any form, not only computerized data.
How quickly must residents be told?
In the most expeditious time possible and without unreasonable delay. The statute sets no number of days.
Do people I share documents with need an account?
No. Readers confirm their email with a six-digit code, with no account to create.

Alaska metros

Anchorage, AK

Data rooms for Anchorage's 225 law offices and 251 accounting, tax, bookkeeping and payroll firms, with audit trails and view-only access.

Related

Alaska data breach notification law

About the figures on our location pages