Amazon Tech Glitch Exposes Customer Names, Email Addresses

By Robert McMillan

Amazon.com Inc. warned some customers that its website disclosed their names and email addresses as a result of a technical error.

The company didn't say how many people were affected or go into detail about the nature of the error.

Amazon said in a statement Wednesday that it had fixed the issue and informed affected customers. Some customers reported receiving these emails late Tuesday.

The retailing giant told customers they didn't need to change their passwords or take any other corrective action.

It was the second time in two months Amazon notified some customers their email addresses had been exposed. In October, the company said it fired an employee who shared the information with an outside seller on its platform in violation of the company's policy.

While Amazon said the latest snafu was the result of a technical error and not the result of a much more problematic hack or data breach, exposed names and email addresses raise the risk Amazon customers could be targeted in a phishing attack meant to extract more data.

Write to Robert McMillan at Robert.Mcmillan@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 21, 2018 13:29 ET (18:29 GMT)

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