Tens of thousands of Pizza Hut customers received something unexpected this weekend. No, not a pizza, but notice that their credit card information may have been impacted during a security breach at the pizza company… two weeks ago. [More]
personal information
Tinder Has Loads Of Data On You; Says You Shouldn’t Expect It To Remain Secure
By 9.26.17
Human beings say and do a lot of stupid things when trying to connect romantically. Before the internet, there was no record of all the idiotic pick-up lines you used or that others used on you, no permanent file of all the people you randomly dismissed as unattractive (or inexplicably found attractive at the moment). Dating sites like Tinder now have vast amounts of data on their users’ preferences, peculiarities, and peccadilloes, but are they concerned about keeping it safe? [More]
JPMorgan Chase To Pay $4.6M For Allegedly Failing To Ensure It Furnished Accurate Customer Information
By 8.2.17
When opening a checking account, a bank will review a customer’s past banking history supplied from their previous financial institution. JPMorgan Chase allegedly failed to ensure this information was accurate and often left customers in the dark about why their applications were denied or who to contact to dispute these findings. For this, the company will pay a $4.6 million fine. [More]
Ashley Madison Breach Victims Could Receive Up To $3,500 Each
By 7.17.17
Seven months after Ashley Madison agreed to pay $1.65 million to settle federal and state probes into its lax security and deceptive practices, the company is back with another settlement that will see users whose personal information was breached when the adultery site was hacked in July 2015 recoup up to $3,500 for their troubles. [More]
Feds Shut Down Loan Application Sites That Illegally Sold Personal Data
By 7.6.17
There are a lot of people who need to borrow money quickly but don’t know where to go for a loan. So they go online, where there are plenty of shady operators promising to connect loan applicants with lenders. What the borrower doesn’t know is that these lead generators may also be selling their personal information with third parties who have nothing to do with that loan. [More]
The ‘Infinite Campaign’ Creates Absurdly Specific Twitter Ads Based On Your Supposed Interests
By 7.5.17
We may be getting used to seeing targeted online ad campaigns based on our browsing history and social media interactions, but what about ads that are literally nothing more than generic statements of what Twitter’s ad-targeting algorithm thinks about us? [More]
Google Will Stop Scanning The Contents Of Your Gmail Messages To Sell Ads
By 6.23.17
If you use one of Google’s many services then you’ve probably come to the realization that the tech company has a lot of your personal information and data, which it uses to sell ads. Now, after years of debate on whether or not it’s okay for Google to read users’ private emails, the tech giant says it will stop scanning Gmail messages, but only for the purpose of personalizing ads. [More]
Kmart Victim Of Second Hack Attack In Three Years
By 6.1.17
Even with fewer stores and sales floors full of boxes, Kmart is still an attractive target for ne’er-do-wells: The retailer has found itself on the receiving end of another hack attack, just three years after its last security breach. [More]
Bank Sends Tax Forms, Personal Information To Wrong Customers
By 5.19.17
Tax forms mailed out by your bank contain all sorts of information you probably don’t want to land in the hands of a random stranger: Name, address, partial Social Security number, account number, and more. Yet, one large bank screwed up and sent this sensitive information to the wrong customers. [More]
Saks Fifth Avenue Customer Email Addresses Posted Publicly
By 3.20.17
The email addresses for thousands of Saks Fifth Avenue customers were sitting on the retailer’s website, unencrypted, for an unknown period of time. [More]
State Wants Craft Brewers To Keep Info On Every Person They Sell Beer To
By 8.5.16
Why would the state need to know your name, phone number, where you live, wand how old you are when you buy beer? It’s unclear, but that kind of detailed info is exactly what Alabama regulators have proposed craft brewers collect from anyone buying beer to bring home. [More]
Payday Loan Operator MoneyTree Latest Company To Fall For CEO Email Scam
By 3.16.16
Employees of payday lending company Moneytree are used to taking the personal information of customers in exchange for short-term cash infusions. Some of those workers recently found themselves on the other side of the fence after someone at the company fell for the CEO email scam. [More]
FCC To Consider Rules That Would Make ISPs Get Permission To Share Your Personal Info
By 3.10.16
There’s a reason they call this century the information age: everything is data, data, data. And today, the FCC announced a proposal that would regulate how ISPs — over which all that data flows — have to get your permission to collect and share all that juicy, valuable information. [More]
Some Walmart Online Pharmacy Customers’ Prescription Info Visible To Others For Days
By 3.3.16
No one wants their personal, private health information plastered on the internet for all to see. While that wasn’t exactly the case for Walmart, the retailer announced this week that a few thousand of its online pharmacy customers had their prescription histories and other basic information visible online for a four-day period last month. [More]
Snapchat Employee Falls For CEO Email Scam, Reveals Some Employees’ Personal Info
By 2.29.16
Last week, we warned readers that the so-called “CEO email scam” was back (did it ever really go away?) with a tax season twist: asking employees to hand over files of employee information, such as a W-2 form. The folks at Snapchat apparently didn’t get the memo, as the photo sharing company announced that it was the victim of a phishing scam that led to ne’er-do-wells getting their hands on the personal information of some employees. [More]
Data Broker Must Pay $4.1M For Selling Sensitive Information To Scammers
By 2.18.16
Data brokers are companies that collect and aggregate information on consumers to create detailed profiles that are then sold to other companies to determine if an individual is qualified for loans, mortgages, jobs, and other things. But sometimes, these companies get their hands on unauthorized, highly sensitive personal information and sell it. Today, four connected data brokers agreed to settle federal charges of selling this sort of information to unscrupulous customers. [More]
Hack Of Online Hello Kitty Community Exposes Info For 3.3M Parents, Possibly Children
By 12.21.15
Just weeks after the hack of electronic toy maker VTech exposed the personal information for more than five million children and adults, another child-focused enterprise has suffered a similar breach. The interactive online community for Hello Kitty was recently breached, potentially compromising 3.3 million accounts. [More]
