Concerns raised over Argos' customer data practices

Doubts have been raised about the online security practices of Argos after it was revealed that the high street retailer was exposing customers’ personal information in order confirmation emails.

Although the issue has now apparently been fixed, the company was including customers’ full name, address, credit card number and three digit CCV security code in the emails, which are sent out once consumers have placed an order on its website.

Though the credit card details did not appear in the text of the email itself, they were contained in plain text in the HTML code, which meant that they could potentially have been viewed by anyone intercepting or gaining access to such messages.

The same messages also included a web link that was meant to direct customers to Argos’ security page. But the URL contained their full name, address and credit card details. As a result, anyone clicking on the link would have left their details, written in plain text, in their browser web history, posing a particular risk to public PC users in internet cafes.

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