According to the German automaker, over 3 million customers had their private data exposed over the course of two years between Audi and Volkswagen purchases made from 2014 to 2019.
VW confirming the breach in a statement, “We recently discovered that an unauthorized third party obtained limited personal information received from or about customers and interested buyers from a vendor that Audi, Volkswagen and some authorized dealers in the United States and Canada use for digital sales and marketing activities.”
It appears most of the consumer data was used for marketing purposes, the data generally included the consumers name, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses. However there is growing concern that even more sensitive information may have been leaked while consumers were in the middle of their loan process, this data includes driver license numbers, and social security numbers.
The company has stated they have notified affected consumers and are offering free credit protection services to those involved.
