As you know, I very rarely download mobile apps. Except for a multi-factor authentication app, and of course, the Jumbo privacy app.

This week, the Jumbo privacy app advised me that my name, address and email address had been involved in a data breach by db851dd. What the heck is that and how did they have my name, address and email address in the first place?

As a privacy professional, I know how companies dump our personal information, shopping information, credit card purchases, and online browsing for marketing purposes. But I limit all of that as best I can, including not using grocery store or pharmacy cards, limiting online shopping and using cash for purchases. So what is the db851dd and how did they get my information?

I did a little digging, but to be honest, it got a little scary. I first googled db851dd and a bunch of foreign websites popped up. You know how paranoid I am about foreign websites, so I didn’t have the guts to click on any of them, and my IT guys were in the back of my mind saying “Linn, really? Of all people, you?” So I refrained. There were two pages of google searches, all of which were either in a foreign language or had to do with online shopping. I just don’t do much online shopping, even in the pandemic (much to my husband’s delight at seeing a zero balance on my credit card for the past three months), so I remain puzzled as to how and why this entity had or obtained my personal information.

Sounds like a good project for one of my dark web monitors. I will report back when I get more information. In the meantime, consider downloading the Jumbo app to monitor your data—that is,unless you are too scared to know so much about how your data are freely disclosed to entities without your permission.

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