Kotaku
We've received a handful of messages from upset gamers today who had their personal e-mails exposed to the hundreds, possibly thousands, of recipients of a customer service update from Activision on Guitar Hero III issues. In just one of the e-mails that was forwarded to us, an impressive 860 recipient e-mail addresses were listed in the mail's 'To' field, ensuring that all who received updates on their replacement discs for the Wii version of Guitar Hero III had access to the e-mail addresses of the rest.
That's potentially bad news for consumers, who may have had their personal e-mail information sent to others, opening them up to heavy spamming. It may also be bad news for Activision, as the e-mail blasts may violate the company's online Privacy Policy. That policy states that Activision has "taken steps to assure that all information collected will remain secure and in its original form" and that "Access to all personal information is strictly controlled."
If you're one of the many that have a complaint about Activision's handling of your information, they instruct you to contact the company's Business and Legal Affairs/Privacy Policy department at (310) 255-2000.
Comments
Dear Activision, YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG
Wow, looks like someone's getting fired
Class Action Lawsuit Round 2: Fight!
Wow activision just can't seem to get anything right when it comes to the wii mono problem can they?
Holy bleeding shit! This won't end well.
I'm glad I didn't send in for one of those disk.
This is precisely why I have a gmail account specifically for these purposes. It gets loaded with spam all the time, but I can use the handy search function to find the pertinent e-mail I need to reference.
Holy crap. But hell, this is Activision. They've got Blizzard somewhere inside, plus a whole lot of cash. I say better them than some poor old company trying to make a buck.
Although I would be mad if my personal emails were exposed, I am pretty sure that we actually do not have ownership of our "personal" emails. They belong to hotmail.com, gmail.com, est. Maybe that doesn't have anythign to do with this though.
Yep, I was one of those on the list. I checked the update email I received and saw the hundreds of other email addresses listed amongst them.
Yes, I'm going to call their Business and Legal Affairs number to inform them I was one of the email addresses which were broadcast. We'll see how Activision handles it from there.
*clicks "Reply All"*
Awesome. I love drama.
I bet you get a free XBLA game ... I am thinking Texas Hold'em or UNO.
YAY!!
You am can "reply all" to each other and decide how to make the most benefit out of this. You can talk and meet. If someone gets married out of this is would be such good PR.
If life gives you lemons, make lemonade and sue Activision.
@Mit: This deserves a lawsuit, I can not believe they make a misstake like this... Human error I guess.
Still, this is very serious, how do companies expect us to register games and other stuff if we can't trust them with private information. I had this happen to me before, and end up getting spammed to hell forcing me to end my email account and loosing contacts etc.
I'm sure that the person sending out the email had no idea about the repercussions of their actions. They probably don't even know that there is a BCC field for this purpose.
Companies need to better educate the people who handle email. Being responsible for emailing customers is probably seen as low-end, untrained grunt work, but in reality, those people are responsible for handling the personal information of thousands of customers.
ZOMG TEH EMAILS!
party foul!
Wait a damn minute, I'm pretty sure I don't work for Activision support. Yet this seems like the typical sort of fuck up due to laziness that I'd manage.
And if I do work for Activision then I'm definitely way.. way late for work.
Wow, welcome to the spotlight now Activision!
shinny21 wrote: "I am pretty sure that we actually do not have ownership of our "personal" emails. They belong to hotmail.com, gmail.com, est."
Regardless of who you use for your email service, your email address should be treated as confidential information. If Gmail published a list of all customers' email addresses, then that would unanimously be seen as a bad thing.
And personally, I have my own domain and use a privately hosted mailserver. I don't see how my email address could be considered anyone else's "property".
Reply all.
Next morning...
You have 820 NEW messages.
Fucking hell ... what went wrong here? Here's hoping that someone gets their ass fired for this. NOT COOL.
Yep, I got the email with over 100 email addresses on it. I'll almost definitely be contacting them about it.
Hmm. I sent out an email about this article to everyone on the list (using Bcc...) and get back an auto response from an out-of-office Activision marketing guy... maybe I should throw his email address out in the open and see how he likes it. (...even though the issue probably was completely out of his control...)
So this is where some people should press 'Reply to All' and share expletives with each other.
I don't know if I was on that list, but I did subscribe for reminders on the replacement disc offer. Plus, the email address I used is getting hit with more spam lately....nothing major, but moreso than usual.
Commence mass spamming of the phone lines!
Way to drop the bomb...twice.
how hard is it to use the bcc function? one maybe two clicks?
well the other 99 email addresses attached to my email were quite amusing to read the names some people come up with so it wasn't a complete waste of time.
wow thank god i absolutly refuse any promotions and email sharing when i subscribe to stuff
Some people don't even know what BCC is... Haha.. Like the time some one almost bankrupt the ISP they where working for by having there Perl email script send out a email that says $55.99 a month DSL service with yearly agreement. For those that don't know perl the dollar sign should of been escaped. GULP.
They were probably using Microsoft Outlook which has the BCC field turned off by default.
Perhaps they'll charge less or nothing for GHIII DLC for this fiasco. But who are we kidding...
I too got the message - noticed in my inbox this morning. Activision has completely violated their own privacy policy.
The irony of it all is that everyone who received the e-mail message was trying to get a new disc to recover from Activision's first screw-up of falsely advertising surround sound on the game in the first place.
The least they could do is send us the new disc at no charge without needing to jump through hoops to sign additional forms and ship them our original first.
That's what you get for buying GH3 for the Wii instead of saving your cash to pick up a 360 and Rock Band.
"That's what you get for buying GH3 for the Wii instead of saving your cash to pick up a 360 and Rock Band."
Oh burn! haha.
Oh, man... :(
well that is one way to boost the exchange of Wii Friend Codes for GH3.
@KaneRobot: I have been regretting it ever since :-(
I read that Spam, the glorious makers of the barely-specified meat product, are a bit litigous about the the use of their foul stinkmeat in conjunction with unsolicited emails. I don't give a tinker's cuss myself, but it's the first time I've ever felt inclined to leave a comment, so... wa-hey, I suppose.
@Ockeroid: agreed. BCC, not CC! lol!
I just finished a letter to Activision about my disgust on being included on this list. It's been 3 days and Activision hasn't even bothered sending me an email apology. This pisses me off more than the initial act itself and unless Activision rights this wrong somehow, I wouldn't hesitate to join a Class-Action lawsuit.
I guess the question is, what could Activision do to make this right with the people affected. If an email apology is such a low priority, how do they expect to come out of this unscathed.
Considering this all started with thier own error by releasing the disc in Mono, those affected by the email fiasco should be sent a new (fixed) copy of the game including the bundled guitar controller. Slipping in an apology would also be nice.
Please comment and keep this conversation going.
[www.peavey.com]
On second thought, Activision should buy everybody affected one of the custom Guitar Hero controllers from Peavey. If you haven't seen them, they're made of real wood and have some killer artwork choices. Check them out.
[www.peavey.com]
Has anyone called the legal department? What is their response or what have they had you do?
I'm with you Bunglehead, something needs to be done to rectify this situation. My guess is Activision has not received enough complaints about this and will not take measures to make things right until theior hand is forced. Lets look at the situation completely:
1) The game is released in Mono - Ok this was a mistake and it offended many players. Granded they are going to replace disks but this is only the beginning.
2) Activision's replacement policy - They are going to send out prepaid envelopes where we must first send them the game and wait for the replacment (how long will the replacment take, I bet it won't be quick). HAH, i'm sorry buit this is the dumbest policy ever and I must say quite insulting. Lets look at some mayor hardware manufacturers like NEC. When my monitor dies under warranty, they send me a new monitor and then I send them my defective one once I have received the new one. THAT is a policy of a company thatr cares about their customers. To make us wait like that is ... well you get the idea.
3) Privacy policy violation - And now we're here. The third blow in an already messy situation and it's the last straw. OFFICIAL STATISTIC: Spam in my inbox is up 32% two days following the exposure and is holding steady ever since.
Like Bunglehead, I have contact Activision and to date I have not received any communication back, and this makes me feel like they simply don't care. Well I do any if there is to be any recognition for Activision, those effected must band together and make our voices heard. I'm on board if anyone starts something official.
Here the only response so far.
Response (Jose Lara) - 01/23/2008 08:20 AM
Hello from Activision!
We enjoy hearing from our customers.
Recently we sent an update for the Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Wii replacement disc program that may have inadvertently contained some customer email addresses. As a result we are implementing new procedures to further ensure the protection of our customer's information. We apologize for this oversight and thank you for your continued support.
This was sent 4 days after the emails were sent and only in response to along letter adressing multiple issues. Did anybody else get this or do you have to ask for an apology.
I sent another letter and here's the response I got.
Response (Nick Bee) - 01/27/2008 04:35 PM
Hi,
That's the official response regarding the issue; I cannot comment further.
Customer - 01/26/2008 01:29 AM
I Thank You for the long overdue apology but this is the only response of many I sent to your various departments. I, like many others on gaming blogs aren't happy about the initial problem and everything since. Activision used to be a respected name but your lack of action with the multiple problems (tech and procedural) deserve a mountain of bad-mouthing. A boycott is really deserved but wouldn't happen anyway. Those affected include 1) the email fiasco group, and also 2) all other paying customers stuck with a Mono disc.
I'd like a real response if possible
Response (Jose Lara) - 01/23/2008 08:20 AM
Hello from Activision!
We enjoy hearing from our customers.
Recently we sent an update for the Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Wii replacement disc program that may have inadvertently contained some customer email addresses. As a result we are implementing new procedures to further ensure the protection of our customer's information. We apologize for this oversight and thank you for your continued support.
I like the statement "That's the official response regarding the issue; I cannot comment further."
It looks like Tech and Customer support is being told to not comment outside the boundries of something equilavant to a script or checklist. I sent that email to several department but only one bothered.
It's Time To form a class-action Lawsuit.
Rise!
I just registered the domain name
www.wiiarenthappy.com
But I'm crazy busy for a few weeks. If anybody want to contribue and help with graphics or text including a blog corner.
First will be the site where we can get together
Second we document our experiences (easy letter)
Third we find a lawyer and move forth.
Compensation of some sort is due allong with an apology about personally affecting us.
Start drafting a letter and in a few weeks I'll post some forms for online or even to print and fill out your selves.
I'm not a lawyer so although assitance is required, I'm hesitant and need to find somebody who understands the scope of the problems.
I urge people affected to make short blog comments where you can. I also suggest writing activision support but do so with low expectations. You should try to contact them once to allow them the chance to make it right with you.
PROTECT MY PRIVACY
PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY
PROTECT YOUR NECK
www.wiiarenthappy.com
- Coming Soon -
Bunglehead, contact me at ducott[[at]]hot.....com. Wii are now 2 strong.
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