Ashley Madison’s massive data breach affected more than 10 GB of stolen Ashley Madison data. Ashley Madison is a Canadian-based company. Hacking is an illegal act in Canada. At least in the U.S., the receipt of stolen property may be a federal offense. The uncertainty surrounding the legality of researching data dumps places security professionals and companies they work for in a precarious spot. Not all data dumps posted online are genuine or legitimate. Some data dumps may only contain partially correct information (i.e., the name or email is made up)”]
Source: https://securityintelligence.com/blurred-lines-researching-the-ashley-madison-data/