A data breach on our site temporarily left members’ email addresses exposed. Fortunately passwords were not exposed, no other personal information was compromised and the breach has been closed (3/23) and reported to the U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
What this means for you: While most email providers do a good job at filtering out spam, you may notice an uptick. As always, please remain vigilant of phishing emails, avoid clicking on links in emails, and don’t download attachments unless you are expecting them.
Here are some useful links to help keep you safe:
https://haveibeenpwned.com/ Find out what past data breaches have involved your personal information.
https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-recognize-and-avoid-phishing-scams#report Learn how to recognize phishing emails
Finally, we want to emphasize that passwords were not exposed in this breach. While you don’t need to change your password at this time, it’s a good idea to regularly update your passwords.
I apologize for this breach personally. Please know that we have extensive firewalls and security measures in place to protect Freecycle.org and its members and that this low-risk breach was our first in nearly 20 years. Know that the breach has been fixed and the private data potentially accessible was limited solely to the email addresses themselves.
-Deron Beal, Executive Director, The Freecycle Network
If you have further questions, you may visit this page: https://freecycle.helpscoutdocs.com/article/312-data-breach
Or, reach out to us at privacy@freecycle.org.