Maybe Goodwill Industries Had a Data Breach

Goodwill Industries Inc.,one of America’s biggest and best known non-profit organizations is working with federal officials to investigate the possibility of a data breach. 

Based in Rockville, Maryland, Goodwill says it was notified Friday by fraud investigators for a payment card processor and federal authorities who said payment card numbers may have been stolen from some it’s U.S. stores. The investigation is ongoing but so far no data breach has been discovered.

Goodwill reported more that $3.7 billion in sales and operates 2,900 stores in the U.S. Sales from Goodwill Stores are used to fund jobs programs. 

According to Goodwill it is currently working with credit card providers the Secret Service and other fraud investigators to determine definitively if a breach occurred.

Data breaches have become a common occurence. Sadly it is sometime months before the consumer is told of these breaches. For the biggest breaches of 2014 check out  Americanbanker.com.

Breaking It Down

Yeah maybe there was a breach maybe not. At least they are upfront about it but wait…when did the breach, if there was a breach, occur?

Data breaches worry me because I am not sure when I might be the victim of one of these things. I don’t know when it occurred. I don’t know how the credit card companies discovered the breach.  Something happened to set off alarms or we wouldn’t be speculating about what might have happened.

I am pointing this out because I want more openness when it comes to data breaches. I want to know if my information is out “in the wild” as soon as the stores, credit card companies or banks know. Not 60 days later or whatever the law says. Oh yeah; there is no one single law for data breaches. The companies decide when we should know.