I just changed my eBay password and I no longer use my credit card at Target. If you are an AOL user and you haven’t heard about their breach you had better change your password there as well.
It is May 21, 2014, and eBay has informed us that back in February and March email addresses, phone numbers, our home or business addresses and personal information were stolen. I am not a hi-tech or cyber-retail expert, so I had better not ask what took them so long to tell us (oops, I suppose I just did).
At this specific time, no one at eBay knows (or will admit) to how extensive the hacking attack might have been. An eBay statement from spokeswoman Kari Ramirez and carried by Reuters, has stated: “For the time being, we cannot comment on the specific number of accounts impacted. However, we believe there may be a large number of accounts involved and we are asking all eBay users to change their passwords.”
There is a part of me, I must admit that admires my parent’s generation; you know, that backwards generation that paid for things in cash and weren’t required to share every vital piece of information on the “secure” cloud. They were, most incredibly, able to keep a secret or two. They also dealt on a more ethical playing where buyer and seller were somewhat protected.
Who’s watching the store?
Of course I’ll change my passwords and of course, I will continue to shop online. But who, in the caverns of eBay or Target or the company “next-up” will begin to take responsibility? My responsibility to eBay, and also my trust, is that my credit card is “good,” and that the information I give them is correct and that I even adhere to their policies; what is their responsibility to me?
The Target CEO who oversaw their breach was ultimately fired. There were extenuating circumstances to be sure; for example, their retail foray into Canada was pretty much a flop, but it was the security failure, and the weeks between the initial breach and the admission that created the commotion.
Have the lapses in security occurred, perhaps in small part, because the ethics of the new cyber age with all its bells, whistles, clicks and clouds have not caught up with consumers?
Yes, eBay, I have changed my password and I am keeping my fingers crossed that the wrong people don’t have my home address and telephone number, but what do you owe me?
Keep your sentiments, please
I am the customer. When I buy or sell something on eBay, a small percentage of that sale finds its way to corporate and even to their stock price. I am the customer and you, eBay or Target or “next-up” owes me a heck of a lot more than “change your password.” Perhaps we have become so separated in this age that we have lost sight of who is the customer and who is the company – and which of us has the ethical obligation to the other.
Are we at the time when companies, any company that engages in ecommerce must be rated by an expert, neutral body as to their level of security? Are we at the time when companies, any company must undergo rigorous security testing before they sell one item from their site? If there is a failure, are we at the time when companies, any company must reimburse us for any inconvenience?
Yes, I understand that breaches can and do occur with even the most secure systems but what is their ethical obligation to us as consumers? If it is a matter of “buyer beware,” tell me so I can be fully aware of everything. I think you owe me more than fine print in a scroll down contract and a CNN Story.
If a breach occurs, why don’t they reach out to me personally (before the hackers do)? If not personally, how about using your power as a company to generate temporary passwords as a pre-emptive strike? Yes I realize this approach may come across as naïve, but I think we need a serious ethical discussion about this disturbing threat to our security as customers.
You owe me eBay, Target and whoever will be “next-up.” What are your ethical answers to my problem?
YOUR COMMENTS ARE WELCOME!