Today in Internet (Lack of) Privacy: Ashley Madison Hackers Release Personal Client Information
So, punish a company for not protecting its clients by...punishing its clients?
Back in July, a group of hackers calling themselves the Impact Team hacked the adultery website, Ashley Madison. Yup, Ashley Madison is basically a dating site for people who want to cheat on their partners/spouses, although some users are in open relationships (ie: all parties concerned are aware of what’s going on). Be that as it may, Impact Team hacked Ashley Madison in order to protest unethical business practices, and now may have released 10GB of data – the personal information of over 36 million users worldwide – onto the Dark Net.
Impact Team’s original gripe was with the fact that Ashley Madison not only charges $19 to delete your profile, but that even after you pay, your name and address remain since you likely paid with a credit card.
Whether the information that’s been released actually is the personal information of clients is still being confirmed. However, I have to say that, as someone who very much values internet privacy, I’m more than a little bit confused by Impact Team’s motivations. If the thing that’s upsetting you is the fact that a company is irresponsible with client information, why would your protest include releasing that very information. To me, this move felt less like a protest about internet privacy and ethical business practices, and more about “sticking it to” people who would use a cheating site.
If cheating upsets you, you’re not alone. Cheating upsets a lot of people. However, that shouldn’t give anyone the right to broadcast the personal information of individuals on the Internet.
What do you think about all this? Let us know in the comments below!
(via The Daily Dot)
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