Buying preferences leaked: what it means and what to do
Risk level: low. Can you change it: no. Found in 1 breaches in this directory.
What this data is
Marketing data about what you tend to buy: favourite brands, product categories, price range and how often you shop, built from purchases, surveys and loyalty schemes.
The risk on its own
This is a low risk field. It cannot be used to log in, pay or prove your identity. It mostly tells a marketer, or a scammer, which offers you are likely to click.
The risk combined with other data
With your name and email it lets a scammer send a fake deal on the exact brand you buy, which is far more convincing than generic spam. Some categories reveal more than shopping habits, such as baby products, mobility aids, religious goods or adult items. It also helps data brokers merge records about you from different companies.
How criminals use it
A fake discount email for your favourite brand leads to a lookalike shop that takes your card details and ships nothing.
A parcel delivery text mentions the kind of product you genuinely order, so the tracking link feels safe to tap.
Purchases of baby, medical or adult products reveal a pregnancy, a health condition or private interests to whoever reads the file.
What to do now
Treat unexpected deals on brands you love as suspect, and reach the shop by typing its address yourself rather than clicking the link.
Check unfamiliar shop links with a link checker before entering card details.
Opt out of marketing profiling in the company's privacy settings, or ask it to delete your marketing profile.
Use a virtual card number or a low limit card for online shops you have not bought from before.
Change the password on the shopping account and remove any saved card you do not need stored there.
Frequently asked questions
Is leaked shopping data a security risk?
Only a small one. It cannot access your accounts, but it makes fake offers and delivery scams better matched to you.
Why do shops build a profile on me?
To target offers and sell advertising. Loyalty schemes in particular exist largely to collect this data.
Can I stop companies profiling my purchases?
You can opt out of marketing, ask for deletion under laws such as the CCPA or GDPR, and pay without a loyalty card for purchases you want kept private.
Breaches that exposed this data
Data Enrichment Records: 2016-12-23, 8.2M accounts, Buying preferences, Charitable donations, Credit status information, Dates of birth, Email addresses, Family structure
Breach data sourced from Have I Been Pwned, used under CC BY 4.0. Additional breach metadata provided by XposedOrNot. DataExposed is an independent service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by either.