If it feels like just weeks ago that Amazon inadvertently shared the email addresses of some of its customers—it was.
[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2018/11/amazon-quietly-reversed-its-aussie-shipping-ban-in-time-for-black-friday/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/amazon-boxes-410×231.jpg” title=”Amazon Quietly Reversed Its Aussie Shipping Ban (In Time For Black Friday)” excerpt=”Earlier this year Amazon stopped shipping products to Australia from its online U.S. and UK stores.
That decision has now been reversed, conveniently in time for Black Friday sales period.”]
Previously, an unknown number of customers received emails informing them that this information “was disclosed by an Amazon employee to a third-party seller” who was subsequently fired. For this morning’s deja vu though, the company described the issue as occurring on the Amazon website itself, and the result of a “technical error.”
Hello,
We’re contacting you to let you know that our website inadvertently disclosed your email address due to a technical error. The issue has been fixed. This is not a result of anything you have done, and there is no need for you to change your password or take any other action.
Sincerely,
Customer Service
Amazon tends to be tight-lipped about, well, everything, and this is clearly no exception—though the wording of the company’s email suggests a problem of a different nature than a lone actor trying to make a few extra bucks by scheming on the side with a nefarious seller. How many email addresses were exposed or in what way the Amazon website was a part of this supposed error are blanks which are unlikely to be filled in.
Concerned customers can opt in to two-factor authentication for their Amazon accounts here, which while imperfect, at least adds another layer of security to online identities.
An Amazon spokesperson told Gizmodo the leaked email addresses did not represent a breach of either the site or its underlying systems, and wrote via email that “We have fixed the issue and informed customers who may have been impacted.”
[CNBC]