AT&T Apologizes For Now Ex-Employee Who Accessed Customer Data “Inappropriately”

AT&T has issued an apology letter and says it’s fired an employee who tapped into customer information this year, writing to those affected and explaining that the worker accessed accounts in August 2014. While doing so, that person might have viewed and obtained account information including social security numbers and driver’s license numbers.

“Simply stated, this is not the way we conduct business, and as a result, this individual no longer works for AT&T,” reads a sample letter of those sent to customers and provided to the Vermont Attorney General’s office (PDF).

So what now? Any unauthorized charges made to about 1,600 affected customer accounts will be revered, AT&T says, and those affected will get a free year of credit monitoring services. AT&T suggests contacting major credit agencies to put a fraud alert on your accounts, as well as changing any online passwords.

But you’ll only know if you’re part of this group once you hear from AT&T.

“We take our customers’ privacy very seriously and value the trust they have in us,” Mark Siegel, an AT&T spokesman, said in a statement. “Unfortunately, we recently learned that one of our employees did not follow our strict privacy rules and inappropriately obtained some customer information. This individual no longer works at AT&T and we are directly contacting the limited number of affected customers.”

If it’s not a hack that’ll get you these days it seems, it’s a snooping employee.

AT&T Says It Fired Employee Who Gained Access to Customer Data [NYT’s Bits Blog]

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