Samsung admits technical fault exposed data of 150 UK users

Samsung

The company said it stopped the 150 affected users’ accounts by logging them out of its service, but has not confirmed for how long their data was leaked

South Korean tech giant Samsung has admitted that a technical fault exposed the data of 150 of its UK users.

The company said it stopped the 150 affected users’ accounts by logging them out of its service unanimously, but has not confirmed for how long their private data was leaked.

Data such as addresses, telephone numbers, postal and email addresses, as well as previous order histories were leaked – however credit card details were not.

Speaking to The Register, a Samsung spokesperson said, a technical error resulted in a small number of users being able to access the details of another user. As soon as we became of aware of the incident, we removed the ability to log in to the store on our website until the issue was fixed.

The issue started last week when Samsung users found a “Find my Mobile” push notification.

Find my Mobile is a baked-in Samsung app that allows people to retrace their phone should it be lost or stolen.

But the push-notification simply said “1/1″ to most users. Samsung customers, assuming the worst, went online to change their account passwords, only to find other people’s personal data on their account.

The error had only affected UK customers, and many believed it was a hack. But Samsung has confirmed it was a technical error on its part.

Samsung said in a statement, “We will be contacting those affected by the issue with further details.”

After launching its range of new Galaxy S20 and foldable Galaxy Z Flip phones in San Francisco earlier this month, Samsung is a strong competitor in the smartphone market.

But data leaks are a serious concern as tech companies grow larger. Facebook, Google, Apple, and Amazon have all recently had major data leak issues.

According to Samsung, if you have been affected, then you should have been forcibly locked out of your Samsung account and the company should have contacted you.

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