American Express and Orbitz the Latest Companies to Expose Consumer Data

American Express and Orbitz the Latest Companies to Expose Consumer DataWord spread on March 21, 2018 of another data breach. This time the information came from American Express. Apparently, those who use American Express Travel may have had their data stolen due to a data breach at Orbitz. According to an email sent to American Express members, transactions made using the Orbitz platform between January 1, 2016 and December 22, 2017 may have been affected. Orbitz has allegedly taken steps since that time to protect its data.

It appears that the stolen information included full name, payment card data, date of birth, email, phone number, physical and/or billing address and gender. According to Orbitz there is no evidence that other type of personal information such as Social Security numbers, passport information or travel itineraries were impacted.

This is just another data breach exposing individuals to credit problems and identity theft. The fact that credit cards, dates of births, emails, phone numbers and physical billing addresses may have been exposed is significant. Companies that have had their servers breached and lost consumer data typically try to hide behind the fact that Social Security numbers were not exposed. Apparently, they think this means that consumers need not worry. This is just not true. Data thieves are looking for any personal information they can get because it has value to them on the black market. It is not simply a matter of your Social Security number being exposed.

This highlights the need for individuals to press companies when their data is exposed. Companies need to understand that data breaches are happening on a regular basis and they will be held accountable if they don’t take the necessary steps to protect individual consumers’ data.

Paulson & Nace has handled data breach cases and recently defended an attempt by CareFirst to have a data breach case thrown out of court, depriving victims of their right to bring a lawsuit. If you believe that you are a victim of the Orbitz and American Express data breach you should reach out and contact an attorney as soon as possible to learn what you need to do to protect yourself.