SINGAPORE – The personal data of over 300,000 customers of karaoke chain K Box Singapore have been posted online.
At least five customers have confirmed with The Straits Times that the leaked database contains their names, addresses and mobile phone and identity card numbers, although some information is outdated. Details of celebrities who are members of the karaoke chain also appear to have been posted. K Box membership numbers and loyalty points earned were also exposed.
The leak of K Box’s membership database is being investigated by privacy watchdog, the Personal Data Protection Commission, which said it is “concerned about the scale” of the alleged breach.
Organisations must take “reasonable measures” to protect personal data in their possession, said the commission, citing privacy laws which came into force on July 2.
Police have confirmed that a report has been lodged and are looking into the matter.
Early on Tuesday morning, a group which called itself “The Knowns” sent out an e-mail to media outlets, including to The Straits Times, saying that it was releasing the database to show its displeasure over recent increases in toll charges at the Woodlands Checkpoint.
It said the increases were “an unnecessary financial burden on working Malaysians”, and threatened to “attack and expose” the databases of more Singapore companies if nothing was done to reverse the charges.
A representative of Kbox said it is investigating if its system had been hacked.
K Box, which was previously owned by Singaporean David Wong, was sold to Koshidaka Holdings, which runs karaoke chains in Japan, in February this year.
The Land Transport Authority said on Friday that from Oct 1, Singapore will revise toll charges on this side of the Causeway to match the ones set by Malaysia. The toll for cars leaving Singapore will be $3.80, more than triple the current $1.20. A new toll of $2.70 will be imposed on cars entering Singapore.
The Republic has a long-standing policy of matching its toll charges at the Causeway and Second Link to those set by Malaysia. The Malaysian authorities had raised its toll charges earlier in August.
A K Box member who wanted to be known only as Ms Lin, 26, was shocked that her private details, including her NRIC number, surfaced online. She added: “I haven’t used that membership card in more than 10 years.”
via: http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/personal-data-of-300000-k-box-singapore-clients-surfaces-online