Yesterday, we reported that Essential created a big mess with its email list where the company requested additional proof in form of ID from buyers. Instead of the customer data going back to Essential, misconfigured settings lead to customers sharing their sensitive information with each other.
CEO Andy Rubin today issued a public apology in a company blog post. In the apology, Andy calls the incident “humiliating” and that he is “personally responsible for this error.” He goes on to further confirm that 70 customers in total were affected by the sloppy confirmation process. In order to compensate for this mishap, Essential will offer one year of LifeLock protection to the impacted customers. This is to help them prevent potential identity theft.
Essential’s team has disabled to “misconfigured” account to prevent people from accidentally sharing sensitive information again with others customers. Andy has promised to further invest in a better infrastructure.
The only details we don’t know is how Essential will go about fixing their shipment confirmation requirements. Sharing your sensitive information over email isn’t the best idea, perhaps a phone call?
