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Glitch Exposes 52,000 Sacramento Bee Subscribers' Info To Public Internet

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The data of more than 50,000 Sacramento Bee subscribers was exposed after what the company calls a glitch in server maintenance.

The Bee sent an email to subscribers warning the information of approximately 52,000 subscribers who activated their digital accounts was exposed.

The company says a glitch in server maintenance left contact information for those subscribers exposed to the public Internet in January.

That information includes subscriber names, addresses, phone number and email addresses.

The Bee cautions that information didn't include account passwords, credit card numbers or Social Security numbers.

The company does not know if any of the exposed information was accessed, or how many people may have accessed it.

Scammers could use the information made available to send phishing emails or letters posing as the Sacramento Bee looking for customers to renew their subscriptions.

Here is the text of the email that was sent to customers on Wednesday night.

Dear Bee reader:

We have strict protocols in place to ensure the security of any data you share with us. Unfortunately, we have just learned that a glitch in server maintenance in January left certain contact information exposed to the public Internet.

The incident exposed the names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of approximately 52,000 Sacramento Bee subscribers who had activated their digital accounts. The information did not include passwords, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, financial information or any other sensitive data.

Still, we take this incident seriously and wanted to notify you and other subscribers affected so that you can guard against any potential misuse of your personal contact information.

For example, please do not respond to mail offers from other companies seeking renewals or new subscriptions to The Sacramento Bee. Make sure any such notices bear the following return addresses: for payments, as shown on our Renewal Notices the address is P.O. Box 24027, Fresno, CA 93779-4027. For new subscriptions, the address is The Sacramento Bee, P.O. Box 15779, Sacramento, 95852-9922. You may also be interested in some useful tips on protecting your identity online offered by the Federal Trade Commission.

Upon learning of the incident, we immediately secured the affected server. We are continuing our investigation into this incident and are redoubling our efforts to ensure that all of our systems are secure.

We know that incidents like this are concerning and stressful and we apologize for the inconvenience. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at (800) 284-3233 or customerservice@sacbee.com.

Regards,
Maria Ravera
Regional Vice President, Audience Development

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