National Consumers League Statement on AdultFriendFinder.com Data Breach – National Consumers League
May 22, 2015
Contact: Carol McKay, NCL, 412-945-3242, carolm@nclnet.org
Washington, DC — The National Consumers League is warning current and former users of the adult dating website AdultFriendFinder.com to beware of blackmail attempts and phishing attacks resulting from a data breach that reportedly affected nearly 4 million accounts.
The following statement is attributable to John Breyault, NCL Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud:
“The breach at AdultFriendFinder has reportedly compromised extremely sensitive data on nearly four million users, including sexual orientation, desire to engage in extramarital affairs and employer information. Email addresses, usernames, dates of birth, zip codes and IP addresses were also reportedly compromised. This type of information getting into the wrong hands could easily lead to blackmail attempts as well as sophisticated phishing attacks.”
“Congress should take note of the impact that a breach of this type of sensitive information is likely to have on victims. Numerous data breach notification bills pending in Congress contain a narrowly defined ‘harm trigger’ that rely on the likelihood of financial harm to prompt notification. What the AdultFriendFinder breach makes clear is that breached data can result in serious harm to affected consumers, even if the compromised information is not financial in nature. It is for this reason that NCL continues to oppose bills, such as Rep. Blackburn’s Data Security and Breach Notification Act of 2015 that contain harm triggers.”
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About the National Consumers League
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.
