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It turns out leaking people's Social Security numbers is bad for business.
The company behind a major breach of personal information—Florida-based National Public Data—quietly updated its website last week to say it’s no longer selling people's personal data, which clients use to conduct background checks.
"If you are interested in opting out, a request is not necessary. We have opted out ALL personal data and are not selling your personal information through our services,” the new statement says. “We may be required to retain certain records to comply with legal obligations.”
(Credit: National Public Data)The statement was posted on the National Public Data site devoted to the breach; many users were apparently contacting the company about opting out of its profiling services.
Although National Public Data amassed the personal information to help private investigators and fraud prevention services, the data was stolen by a hacker who breached the company’s systems in December. It was then circulated for free on underground forums. Although the data may not be completely accurate, National Public Data warned it had lost names, email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, mailing addresses, and up to 272 million unique Social Security numbers.
National Public Data—which is run under another entity called Jerico Pictures—didn’t immediately respond to multiple requests for comment. So it’s unclear whether the company will shut down entirely. But the company is now facing millions in fines from impending lawsuits.
On Monday, the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida issued a “default” order in the first class-action lawsuit against National Public Dat after Jerico Pictures failed to respond to the lawsuit by Aug. 28. A motion to extend the filing period was also denied a week later. This opens the door for the class-action lawsuit to request a default judgment that would rule in favor of the plaintiff, and force National Public Data to potentially pay damages to all affected users.