Volkswagen Group reported a data breach where more than 3.3 million Audi customers in the U.S. and Canada had personal data exposed.
- Volkswagen reported on June 11th that a data breach impacted more than 3.3 million customers.
- The data breach exposed contact details and, in some cases, personal data like driver license numbers of customers in the United States and Canada.
Volkswagen Group reported a data breach where more than 3.3 million Audi customers in the U.S. and Canada had personal data exposed.
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (VWGoA) was notified on March 20th that an unauthorised person had accessed the data and may have attained the customer data for Audi, Volkswagen, and some authorised dealers.
“The data included some or all of the following contact information about you: first and last name, personal or business mailing address, email address, or phone number. In some instances, the data also included information about a vehicle purchased, leased, or inquired about, such as the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), make, model, year, colour, and trim packages," explains the VWGoA data breach notification reported by TechCrunch.
The data was collected for sales and marketing purposes between 2014 and 2019 and was in an electronic file the vendor left unsecured.
“The data also included more sensitive information relating to eligibility for purchase, loan, or lease. More than 95% of the sensitive data included was driver’s license numbers. There were also a minimal number of dates of birth, Social Security or social insurance numbers, account or loan numbers, and tax identification numbers."
VWGoA began notifying affected and prospective customers through mail and warned that customers should be looking for suspicious emails, calls or texts.
Volkswagen offers free credit protection and monitoring services, including $1 million of insurance against identity theft to 90,000 customers who had more sensitive information exposed.
More than 3.1 million affected are in the United States, and the automaker does not believe sensitive data is involved in Canada.
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