This article was published on June 15, 2010

iPhone 4 Ordering Process May Have Exposed Your Data To Other People


iPhone 4 Ordering Process May Have Exposed Your Data To Other People

As we brought to you before, the iPhone 4 ordering process today is borked in way that only AT&T could pull off. From our report:

Things have gotten bad for those in the US hoping to pre-order their iPhone 4 today.  Really bad.  In fact, some stores are having such problems that they’ve resorted only to taking credit card and phone numbers, then promising to call people back when the system is restored.

So what is causing the issue?  Apparently it all lies on AT&T this time around.  Not surprisingly, the AT&T system is required in order for Apple’s system to process your order.  According to an article over at Gizmodo, employees are using a web interface that is quite similar to the same one you’d see on the AT&T website.

Very bad indeed. But it gets worse. When using that website, AT&T has been making massive mistakes. Users, when signing in, have been taken (in numerous documented cases) to the accounts of other people. Yes, they log in as themselves, and are taken to a different account. This gives them access to damn sensitive information about other people, and means that other people might have the same access to their data.

This went on for hours. AT&T has now taken down the iPhone 4 eligibility page, most likely to prevent further mistakes and embarrassments. There has been no official word from either company.

In a related tip to Giz, an AT&T employee said this:

You might want to advise people to not get the upgrade at this point as it may be a doorway to a major privacy breach.

Heads are going to roll tonight.

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