Off topic: Having your personal data shared by an agency to its translators pool Thread poster: Iulia Parvu
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Iulia Parvu 
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:09
Member (2022)
English to Romanian
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Hello everyone,
I recently received information from another translator that one of the agencies attempting to hire us for a project (having found my profile here, on Proz) accidentally shared a file containing my personal information. This file included my full name, email address, phone number, home address, and date of birth. It seems that they intended to send an empty document but inadvertently shared the one I had filled out.
I have already reached out to the agen... See more Hello everyone,
I recently received information from another translator that one of the agencies attempting to hire us for a project (having found my profile here, on Proz) accidentally shared a file containing my personal information. This file included my full name, email address, phone number, home address, and date of birth. It seems that they intended to send an empty document but inadvertently shared the one I had filled out.
I have already reached out to the agency to address this breach, but unfortunately, they have not responded thus far. If anyone has experienced a similar situation, I would greatly appreciate hearing about your actions and how you dealt with it.
I must confess that I am currently going through a challenging time as I imagine the potential misuse of my information. It has affected my sleep, appetite, and has even led to anxiety attacks. Any guidance or advice you can provide would be immensely valuable to me.
Thank you. ▲ Collapse
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Their translator pool is unlikely to include organised crime syndicates.
| | | | Emanuele Vacca
Italy
Local time: 00:09
Member (2020)
English to Italian
| I know how it feels | Jun 28, 2023 |
I was the victim of a real identity theft some time ago (I mean, not an accident like this one), so I really understand how you feel. Back then, I was in the UK, where there's a scheme that allows you to protect yourself in case your identity was stolen: https://www.cifas.org.uk/pr
You might want to check whether there is something similar in your home country. Also, if I recall correctly, in the UK, if... See more I was the victim of a real identity theft some time ago (I mean, not an accident like this one), so I really understand how you feel. Back then, I was in the UK, where there's a scheme that allows you to protect yourself in case your identity was stolen: https://www.cifas.org.uk/pr
You might want to check whether there is something similar in your home country. Also, if I recall correctly, in the UK, if you report your identity theft to the police and then someone uses your identity to commit fraud or to do something else like obtaining a loan, you can avoid getting involved in the legal proceedings that might arise, paying back the loan etc. Maybe something similar exists in your home country as well. Finally, now that I think about it, as in non-payment situations, I think your chances of getting a reply can increase if you threaten legal action. After all, it was a gross breach of your privacy.
[Edited at 2023-06-28 17:32 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Iulia Parvu
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:09
Member (2022)
English to Romanian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Emanuele Vacca wrote: I was the victim of a real identity theft some time ago (I mean, not an accident like this one), so I really understand how you feel. Back then, I was in the UK, where there's a scheme that allows you to protect yourself in case your identity was stolen: https://www.cifas.org.uk/pr You might want to check whether there is something similar in your home country. Also, if I recall correctly, in the UK, if you report your identity theft to the police and then someone uses your identity to commit fraud or to do something else like obtaining a loan, you can avoid getting involved in the legal proceedings that might arise, paying back the loan etc. Maybe something similar exists in your home country as well.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I am sorry you had to go through such a terrible situation.
I live in the UK, so that might apply to me. I will look into it.
I hope you recovered well after what you've been through.
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| Haveibeenpwned | Jun 28, 2023 |
On haveibeenpwned.com, you can check if an email address or phone number has been leaked in a data breach. It has happened 15 times for two of my old email addresses, fortunately no longer in use.
Since your data was only sent to a few people, the risk of abuse seems limited. It did happen to me once, though, that a Finnish colleague started spamming me after having scraped my email address from a client email. He stopped when... See more On haveibeenpwned.com, you can check if an email address or phone number has been leaked in a data breach. It has happened 15 times for two of my old email addresses, fortunately no longer in use.
Since your data was only sent to a few people, the risk of abuse seems limited. It did happen to me once, though, that a Finnish colleague started spamming me after having scraped my email address from a client email. He stopped when I complained to both that client and him, claiming it was a mistake (mistake my ***).
It's worse when professional spam list companies such as ZoomInfo get hold of your data. It has happened to me twice now that such a parasitic company has notified me that now they are going to sell my personal data. My email address is not public, so some 💣⚡🔥 must have sold or disclosed it. One can only hope that their confirmations of data deletion are genuine. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Iulia Parvu
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:09
Member (2022)
English to Romanian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thomas T. Frost wrote: On haveibeenpwned.com, you can check if an email address or phone number has been leaked in a data breach. It has happened 15 times for two of my old email addresses, fortunately no longer in use. Since your data was only sent to a few people, the risk of abuse seems limited. It did happen to me once, though, that a Finnish colleague started spamming me after having scraped my email address from a client email. He stopped when I complained to both that client and him, claiming it was a mistake (mistake my ***). It's worse when professional spam list companies such as ZoomInfo get hold of your data. It has happened to me twice now that such a parasitic company has notified me that now they are going to sell my personal data. My email address is not public, so some 💣⚡🔥 must have sold or disclosed it. One can only hope that their confirmations of data deletion are genuine.
Thank you for sharing this information with me.
I am not sure if my details were shared with just a few people, as this is a company that has offices all across the world, so their pool of translators might contain hundreds or even thousands of people.
I will try the website you mentioned and hope that I won't have to deal with more serious repercussions.
All the best to you!
| | | | Michael Newton
United States
Local time: 18:09
Japanese to English
+ ...
| Personal data | Jun 28, 2023 |
Name and shame on the BlueBoard.
| | | | | Something similar happened to me | Jun 29, 2023 |
Hi Iulia,
Some time ago (I think it was one or two years ago), I found my CV with all my personal details on the Internet. An agency that had my CV (although I've never actually worked with them) accidentally published their entire database. So the data of thousands of translators were on the net for everyone to see. I was beyond furious, but I was lucky enough because the agency responded immediately and rectified the issue quite soon. I didn't have to threaten legal action, but yo... See more Hi Iulia,
Some time ago (I think it was one or two years ago), I found my CV with all my personal details on the Internet. An agency that had my CV (although I've never actually worked with them) accidentally published their entire database. So the data of thousands of translators were on the net for everyone to see. I was beyond furious, but I was lucky enough because the agency responded immediately and rectified the issue quite soon. I didn't have to threaten legal action, but you might want to do that if the agency fails to reply.
I'm really sorry this is happening to you, I know how it feels. ▲ Collapse
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Iulia Parvu
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:09
Member (2022)
English to Romanian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Marina Taffetani wrote:
Hi Iulia,
Some time ago (I think it was one or two years ago), I found my CV with all my personal details on the Internet. An agency that had my CV (although I've never actually worked with them) accidentally published their entire database. So the data of thousands of translators were on the net for everyone to see. I was beyond furious, but I was lucky enough because the agency responded immediately and rectified the issue quite soon. I didn't have to threaten legal action, but you might want to do that if the agency fails to reply.
I'm really sorry this is happening to you, I know how it feels.
Wow, so it's not a singular case. Thank you for sharing. Hopefully, this will be sorted out soon like in your case, so that I can get my peace of mind back. All the best to you!
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