Mobile Operator Three UK Suffers Another Customer Data Breach

Mobile operator Three UK has confirmed that a fault with their online account management system meant that a “small number” of their customers were recently able to view the accounts details of other users, which included names, addresses, phone numbers, call history and past bills etc.

As usual the word “small” has to be taken in the context of an operator that handles 9 million subscribers, although sadly Three UK hasn’t provided much in the way of constructively useful information about the breach (e.g. how many people were affected, over what period of time and what caused the problem etc.). The official statement also fails to clarify if they’ve fixed the problem.

A Three UK Spokesperson said (The Guardian):

“We are aware of a small number of customers who may have been able to view the mobile account details of other Three users using My3. No financial details were viewable during this time and we are investigating the matter.”

The latest incident comes hot on the heels of last week’s news, which saw Three UK admit that the scale of last year’s personal data breach was much bigger than first reported and impacted a total of 133,827 customers (here). Meanwhile the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) is said to be investigating the latest incident.