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Exactis, a small, Florida-based marketing firm, may have exposed personal data of some 340 million people and businesses in the U.S.




According to a report from Wired, Exactis “had exposed a database that contained close to 340 million individual records on a publicly accessible server” earlier this month. It’s unclear exactly how many people were affected, but it’s estimated that some 230 million people and 110 million business’s information, including phone numbers, home addresses and email addresses, were exposed.

“It seems like this is a database with pretty much every US citizen in it,” says Vinny Troia, a security researcher who spotted the leak, told Wired.




Exactis is a marketing firm that has collected data on the interests and behaviors of hundreds of millions of people. And not just basic data—according to Wired,

Each record contains entries that go far beyond contact information and public records to include more than 400 variables on a vast range of specific characteristics: whether the person smokes, their religion, whether they have dogs or cats, and interests as varied as scuba diving and plus-size apparel. ﻿

Financial information and Social Security numbers appear to not have been leaked, and it’s not clear that hackers have accessed the info like in the case of the Equifax breach, but that doesn’t mean there still isn’t a risk. As Wired’s article points out, the information is comprehensive info to be used by fraudsters to impersonate others.

We’re waiting to hear more on the breach and will update when we do, but in the meantime read this guide Lifehacker put together on what to do before, during and after a breach.