Millions of prisoners' personal information were leaked online after Telmate's massive data breach. Comparitech's report stated that the widely used prison phone service left millions of inmates' and their contacts' data exposed online.
Prison conversation between two inmates: What are you in for? Mass Murder. You? Failing to report a data breach!https://t.co/6ccxrydcvm pic.twitter.com/czwnJkarNI — Fraud Solutions (@fraudservices) February 10, 2017
The company clarified there are no passwords, medical data, or consumer payment information were affected. However, the database doesn't need a password for access, suggesting that the hackers could've extracted the information, leaving the prisoners and their contacts possible targets for identity theft, fraud, and phishing schemes.
The worst-case scenario would be making the prisoners' contacts vulnerable to discrimination and harassment. The incident is not the first case Telmate and GTL have been involved.
The company and its service were previously accused of price gouging prisoners and their families or friends, charging them with unreasonable high call rates. It was revealed that Telmate is using billing practices that make the call charges higher than the normal price rates.
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Read also: Also Read: Police Jailed A Wrong Person for 6 Days; Critics Warn About 'Geofence Warrant'
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Written by: Giuliano de Leon.
