Amazon Is Sending Customers Emails With Other People's Personal Info

Amazon customers are getting emails with someone else’s order information

By Emily Price August 16, 2019

Some Amazon customers say they’re receiving emails from Amazon about orders placed by other people.

Jake Williams, founder of the cybersecurity firm Rendition Infosec, first raised the alarm when he received an email from Amazon intended for another customer that included that person’s name, postal address, and order details.

Williams had ordered something months prior that was now available to ship. He believes that the email was intended to be one letting him know his item was finally available, but at some point along the line wires got crossed and he was sent an email intended for another Amazon customer instead, TechCrunch reports.

Several other Amazon customers have reported similar issues. One customer posted on Twitter about their experience and said they reached out to customer service, but they were told that the issue happens frequently.

I ask the supervisor, again, for the protocol. She said that if someone calls, she fills out a form. I asked her where she sends the form to, she said she “didn’t have that information”. She is also muting her side, so at this point she’s obviously being told what to say

— Carmen GB (@carmenb6636) August 16, 2019

That customer spoke to customer service at length about the issue. In that conversation, she says a supervisor told her that if someone calls to complain about reaching an incorrect email she will fill out a form, but when asked where she sends that form she said she “didn’t have that information.”

When pressed with further questions she continued to respond “I do not have that information” but was unable to answer whether the person whose info was shared is ever notified, the customer said.

Amazon came under fire earlier this year for privacy issues pertaining to the company’s Alexa assistant.

In May, it was discovered that even though Amazon allows customers to delete their interactions with Amazon’s voice assistant, Amazon keeps a text version of those conversations on its cloud servers.

Amazon later added the ability for users to delete those logs.

It appears as though the erroneous emails are being sent at random, and in the form of a single email sent to a single incorrect customer. While obviously not ideal, the issue is similar to when the post office incorrectly delivers a piece of your neighbor’s mail to your home.

An Amazon spokesperson tells Digital Trends that “Due to a technical issue, some customers were inadvertently sent a Delivery Estimate Update email not intended for them. We have fixed the technical issue and are informing impacted customers.”

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