Dave Kasabian's Pervasive Performance Management Blog: Can You Trust a Reputable Institution with Your Business Data? Maybe Not!

Pervasive Performance Group Blogging on BI and Performance Management Practices

Can You Trust a Reputable Institution with Your Business Data? Maybe Not!

This personal experience shows why many organizations still fear "the cloud". It's not necessarily the direct vendor they fear but who else has access to the information once they give it to the cloud vendor.

Disney Destinations Debacle

I have two young daughters ages 6 and 8. Like many parents with kids that age we made our first pilgrimage to the mecca for kids in Orlando last year. We booked it through Disney Destinations because we wanted to go right to the source and eliminate the possibility of dealing with a little known travel agency who might sell our personal information to offset their "discounted price".

Then I get a disturbing email from disney destinations yesterday that my info was leaked by a 3rd party email service provider they use. I never gave that information to that 3rd party and was never informed that the information would be managed by a third party.

You F&*#ed Up, You Trusted Us!

I trusted Disney to protect my information because few organizations have as strong a focus on customer satisfaction and retention. it is in their best interest to keep their customers feeling sate, satisfied and ready to cave to the kids' desire to make the pilgrimage an annual event. But a 3rd party screws it up.

In the business world when you give your data to a vendor make sure you know where it will be stored, their security procedures AND what third parties they use who will have access to the information. Don't put yourself in a position where you have to say "I F-ed up, I trusted them"

The email I received from Disney

Dear Guest,

Earlier today, you likely received an email from us that had no copy
or content in it.  Below is the important information we were trying
to share with you in that email message.  We apologize for the
confusion and our contact information is below
should you have any questions about this matter.

We have been informed by one of our email service providers, Epsilon,
that your email address was exposed by an unauthorized entry into that 
provider's computer system.  We use our email service providers to 
help us manage the large number of email communications with our 
guests.  Our email service providers send emails on our behalf to 
guests who have chosen to receive email communications from us.

We regret that this incident has occurred and any inconvenience this 
incident may cause you.  We take your privacy very seriously, and we 
will continue to work diligently to protect your personal information.

We want to assure you that your email address was the only personal 
information we have regarding you that was compromised in this 
incident.

As a result of this incident, it is possible that you may receive spam 
email messages, emails that contain links containing computer viruses 
or other types of computer malware, or emails that seek to deceive you 
into providing personal or credit card information.  As a result, you 
should be extremely cautious before opening links or attachments from 
unknown third parties or providing a credit card number or other 
sensitive information in response to any email.

If you have any questions regarding this incident, please contact us 
at (407) 560-2547 during the hours of 9:00 am to 7:00 pm (Eastern Time)
Monday through Friday, and 9:00 am through 5:00 pm (Eastern Time) 
Saturday and Sunday.

Sincerely,

Disney Destinations