Many organizations do not adequately inform consumers about data breaches. That's according to a Consumer Association sample. More than half of the warnings are too vague.
Consumers Union investigators looked at 69 alerts from online stores, IT companies, schools and garages, among others. Of these, 37 were too unclear or lacked crucial information. For example, a quarter of the messages did not mention what information was leaked. Also, data breach messages are often insufficiently alarming and companies do not tell what measures they have taken to prevent further abuse. A third of the e-mails do not state what consumers themselves can do to limit the damage.
The warning from fashion brand Livera in particular stood out. The message with the headline "Protection of personal data at Livera highest priority" first describes the company structure and the company's "constant attention" to data protection. Only in the third paragraph does it state that the parent company has been hacked and that personal data (name, address, e-mail address, phone number) may have been accessed.
Sandra Molenaar, director Consumer Association: 'Criminals can misuse leaked data. For example, for chatting scams or phishing. That is why it is important to inform consumers properly when their data is out in the open. But many organizations don't do that. They forget to share crucial information, and sometimes they seem more concerned with protecting their reputation than caring about their customers. This is very bad. Organizations don't seem to realize that consumers run unnecessary additional risks as a result. That really needs to change.
The Consumers' Association shared the results of the investigation with the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens. That received more than 20,000 reports of data leaks each year in recent years. Criminals regularly obtain data through hacks and then trade them on the Internet. Via websites such as haveibeenpwned.com (1) and scatteredsecrets.com (2), consumers can check whether they are the victims of reported data breaches. And on the Consumers Union website (3), they can see what they can do to minimize the unpleasant consequences of a data breach.
https://haveibeenpwned.com/
https://scatteredsecrets.com/
https://www.consumentenbond.nl/internet-privacy/datalekken-de-gevaren-en-wat-moet-je-doen
