Are there any real consequences to having your data leaked in a breach? If yes, what?
Assuming not passwords. Things like name, address, passport number, etc.
Ask HN: So what if my personal information gets stolen?
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Re: Ask HN: So what if my personal information gets stolen?
#2Identity theft.
Re: Ask HN: So what if my personal information gets stolen?
#3Identity theft.
How prevalent is it? Any examples when a breach has had a real, significantly damaging impact on an average person?
Re: Ask HN: So what if my personal information gets stolen?
#4Identity theft.
How prevalent is it? Any examples when a breach has had a real, significantly damaging impact on an average person?
I don’t have any recent examples at hand right now but there absolutely have been cases of identity theft in the UK and the US (particularly given the importance attributed to social security numbers there).
Re: Ask HN: So what if my personal information gets stolen?
#5It depends on what you mean by 'etc'. The problem might not be in a single leak, but with enough leaks people can get access to all kinds of PII (personally identifiable information). It's important to me that my physical address not leak, I don't want people or packages showing up that I didn't ask to show up.
If your important numbers (in the US that's passport, social security, and driver license) get leaked, it becomes easier and easier for someone to commit identity theft and open credit cards in your name which you will have will have to pay with either money or a lot of time proving it wasn't really you. Or they can get traffic tickets in your name which will become a warrant for you.
And if they know enough about you (address, likes and dislikes, etc), it becomes much easier to socially hack (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_hacking) you. Any security is only as strong as its weakest link, and social hacking has been used to get access to people's bank account, email address (doesn't sound scary but if someone has access to your email, they likely have access to all of your accounts because they can trigger a password reset, intercept it, set a new password, then lock you out), and a lot of other things.
Re: Ask HN: So what if my personal information gets stolen?
#6Identity theft.
How prevalent is it? Any examples when a breach has had a real, significantly damaging impact on an average person?
I think that depends on how you define "significant damaging impact".
Surely, somewhere some victim of identity theft has suffered vast financial losses without recoup.
Surely, many victims of identity theft have a harder time getting approved for loans, leases, or even government clearances and background checks. These things are explainable, but isn't the fact that a person has to deal with this for the rest of their life (or at least 10-15 years following an identity theft event) enough of a problem that you would say it has caused a person "significant, damaging impact"?
Re: Ask HN: So what if my personal information gets stolen?
#7Identity theft.
How prevalent is it? Any examples when a breach has had a real, significantly damaging impact on an average person?
I’ve known someone who actually went to jail after her identity was stolen and someone was writing bad checks in her name. She was already going through all of the legal process to get everything cleared up but she had warrants against her that she didn’t know about.
Now she doesn’t leave home without police reports and documentation that she has been the victim of identity theft.
Re: Ask HN: So what if my personal information gets stolen?
#8I've never heard of identity theft. If anyone wants to claim this I'd want evidence, not hand waving.
But -
Like Ashley Madison? Medical records? Tax records. These have all had real life consequences for people. North Korean defectors had their details stolen the other day.
Like a email address to a site you comment on, so now it publically ties your comments to the real you?
Go on?
If your question is around identity theft which I think it really is, then I'd need to see proof, else the fear the NPCs have is actually what does the damage. (Also never heard of a domestic incident from a mass breach of addresses, I'd need proof to believe it, but it is enough to legitimately have to move house, so consequences)
(Passwords / unsalted/salted password hashes is of course the real killer, this has screwed a lot of people, but you've excluded this.)
Re: Ask HN: So what if my personal information gets stolen?
#9Identity theft.
How prevalent is it? Any examples when a breach has had a real, significantly damaging impact on an average person?
These guys are saying something like 17M thefts in 2017, which to me is a bit concerning and almost incredible, even if they’re off by a factor of 2. I mean, it’s not the end of the world if someone assumes my identity but it certainly seems like a monumental hassle to deal with and almost certainly bound to cost several thousand dollars.
https://www.javelinstrategy.com/press-release/identity-fraud...
Re: Ask HN: So what if my personal information gets stolen?
#10It depends on what you mean by 'etc'. The problem might not be in a single leak, but with enough leaks people can get access to all kinds of PII (personally identifiable information). It's important to me that my physical address not leak, I don't want people or packages showing up that I didn't ask to show up. If your important numbers (in the US that's passport, social security, and driver license) get leaked, it b…
Your address is a matter of public record. Obviously one should be much more worried about SSN, passport numbers, and other government issued UIDs.