O2 publishes apology over revealing users’ mobile numbers
If you’ve accessed the web using the web browser on your iPhone 4S or Samsung Galaxy S2 on an O2 tariff, your mobile phone number would show up on websites you visit. To prove that this was the case, a test site was set up, which showed that O2 leaked mobile numbers of customers. In response to the data leak, O2 issued a public apology to its customers on its official blog.
O2 says, “We have seen the report published this morning suggesting the potential for disclosure of customers’ mobile phone numbers to website owners. We investigated, identified and fixed it this afternoon. We would like to apologise for the concern we have caused.”
In the Q&A portion of the blog, in “Q: How long has this been happening?”, O2 answers, “In between the 10th of January and 1400 Wednesday 25th of January, in addition to the usual trusted partners, there has been the potential for disclosure of customers’ mobile phone numbers to further website owners.”
In “Q: Has it been fixed?”, O2 answers, “Yes. It was fixed as of 1400 on Wednesday 25th January 2012.”
If you’re wondering what kind of information website owners could have gained access to, O2 answers, “The only information websites had access to is your mobile number, which could not have been linked to any other identifying information we have about customers.”
So what was the reason for the data leak? O2 answers, “Technical changes we implemented as part of routine maintenance had the unintended effect of making it possible in certain circumstances for website owners to see the mobile numbers of those browsing their site.”
Have you been affected by O2’s mistake? Are you looking for compensation? Although O2 did not mention compensation, the Information Commissioner is looking into the matter. We’ll keep you posted on further announcements.
