Verizon Sends Customer Data Spreadsheet to Subscribers

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

It’s getting so you don’t even have to try to get sensitive data any longer. Heck, they’ll just email it to you. Earlier this week, Verizon Wireless emailed a spreadsheet file containing the names, email addresses, cell phone numbers and cell phone models of 5,000 customers to 1,800 different customers. Apparently the spreadsheet was attached to the email instead of an order form for a Bluetooth headset, which was advertised in the email.

“Verizon Wireless takes the security, confidentiality and integrity of your personal information very seriously, and we deeply regret this error,” the company said in the Thursday e-mail. It said that it has already implemented additional quality control procedures and process improvements to prevent a re-occurrence. Source: News.com

We Say: Fortunately for me I don’t have a Verizon account, but if I did, despite the limited nature of the data involved, I’d still be upset. I certainly don’t want my cell phone number getting around like that. And as James Van Dyke, principal analyst at Javelin Strategy & Research in Pleasanton, Calif., which tracks identity fraud said “To commit ID fraud, you must do several things well. This just makes the job slightly easier.”