Data Enrichment Exposure From PDL Customer Data Breach

What happened?

In October 2019, security researchers Vinny Troia and Bob Diachenko identified an unprotected Elasticsearch server holding 1.2 billion records of personal data . The exposed data included an index indicating it was sourced from data enrichment company People Data Labs (PDL) and contained 622 million unique email addresses. The server was not owned by PDL and it's believed a customer failed to properly secure the database. Exposed information included email addresses, phone numbers, social media profiles and job history data.

When did it happen?

The breach date in the public record is October 16, 2019. The record was added to the catalogue on November 22, 2019 and last updated there on November 22, 2019.

What information was reported as exposed?

• Email addresses
• Employers
• Geographic locations
• Job titles
• Names
• Phone numbers
• Social media profiles

These are incident-level categories. The record does not prove that every category was exposed for every affected person.

Who may be affected?

This record may be relevant to people who had an account or other relationship with Data Enrichment Exposure From PDL Customer around October 16, 2019. A catalogue entry does not establish that every customer was affected or that every listed data category applied to each person. Compare the record with an official notice addressed to you.

What should you do?

Choose actions that match the information involved. If you find signs that someone is using your identity, the Federal Trade Commission provides a personal recovery plan at IdentityTheft.gov.