Essential CEO Andy Rubin found himself in an embarrassing situation when his company accidentally leaked the data of some of its customers to another set of customers. Initially, people thought that it was some kind of phishing scam, but later the Essential CEO confirmed that details such as the driver licenses of some customers were shared due to some error.
Essential CEO apologizes for the “error”
Apparently, customer service representatives used a misconfigured account, which required customers to send a photo ID and various other information. About 70 customers sent their information to a “small group of other customers” because of it.
“We have disabled the misconfigured account and have taken steps internally to add safeguards against this happening again in the future,” the Essential CEO said in a blog post. “Being a founder in an intensely competitive business means you occasionally have to eat crow. It’s humiliating, it doesn’t taste good, and often, it’s a humbling experience. As Essential’s founder and CEO, I’m personally responsible for this error and will try my best to not repeat it.”
The real problem, however, is that the customers who received the sensitive information of other customers could choose to keep it or delete at their will. Essential is trying to make things right by offering annual identity theft protection services through LifeLock and ensuring that anything like this does not happen in the future. Further, the start-up has taken necessary actions, such as deactivating the misconfigured account, and vowed to invest more in its infrastructure and customer care.
Can the Essential PH-1 mask this blunder?
Essential’s first phone, the PH-1, almost reached Galaxy and iPhone status in creating hype. There has not been any other brand in recent time which could keep the rumor mills as busy as the PH-1, even before its release. Truly speaking, the phones deserve all the credit, given the fact that it is the brainchild of none other than the creator of Google’s Android operating system.
The Essential PH-1 is an attractive phone, primarily due to its minimum bezel design and form feature. Despite all the goodness, the price was the first thing that caught the attention of critics and experts alike. Offering its first phone for $699 is a daring move by all means. The phone is encased in titanium and a ceramic plate on the rear. The Essential PH-1 runs on the Snapdragon 835 64-bit octa-core SoC, which comes with the Adreno 540 GPU for graphics.
Essential’s flagship smartphone has a 5.71-inch display with a resolution of 2560 x 1312, and it packs 4GB of RAM and 128GB of non-expandable storage. The smartphone has a 13-megapixel rear camera and 8-megapixel front camera. The Essential PH-1 will be available in Ocean Depths, Pure White, Black Moon, Stellar Gray color variants.
After being delayed from the initial launch date, the phone is now being shipped to customers who pre-ordered one. Any further delay would have been disastrous for the company, given that it is their first phone, and Apple is all set to launch its tenth anniversary iPhone in September.
Customers who pre-ordered the Essential PH-1 were just starting to take a sigh of relief after hearing that the smartphone would finally start shipping. Now, this humiliating customer data leak has given them another reason to worry. The company will, however, be hoping that once the device starts flooding the market, its past blunders will be masked with its smartphone hogging all the limelight.
