The personal information of more than 2,000 people who applied online for a Citibank N.A. credit card could have been leaked as a result of a computer error, a Citibank executive said yesterday.
The company has suspended the service and will compensate customers if the data they supplied to the company has been leaked, said Victor Kuan (
"We closed this online credit-card-application service and the online customer-inquiry service right after we found the flaw," Kuan said.
"We have also begun to check the viewing records of more than 2,200 applicants ... to see if there is a possible leak of information, and if so, the number of customers' whose information has been leaked," Kuan said. "We should be able to get the result by the end of today."
Citibank started offering its online credit-card-application service on Aug. 4, with interest-free credit and other benefits.
But a Kaohsiung teacher, Tsao Chih-cheng (曹志誠), last week gained access to other applicants' personal information while applying online for Citibank's Clear Card.
Tsao told Chinese-language media yesterday that he had immediately informed the bank about the security flaw. But he said he could still browse other customers' information when he tried again on Monday.
Kuan yesterday admitted that there were serious errors in the bank's Internet security management and customer service. But he said that the system failure appeared only in its online credit-card-application service. Citibank's main computer system, which has survived several attacks by hackers hired by Citibank, was secure.
"Citibank will contact the customers whose information is suspected to have been leaked during the period from Aug. 4 to Nov. 11 ... and we will compensate these customers for losses resulting from the leak of information," Kuan said.
Cheng Jen-hung (
"According to Article 27 of the Law for the Protection of Computer-Managed Personal Information (電腦處理個人資料保護法), customers can claim compensation of between NT$20,000 and NT$100,000 for the financial losses or other losses resulting from the leak of their personal information," Cheng said. "We will also help the affected consumers claim their compensation through a class-action lawsuit."
The authorities, including the Bureau of Monetary Affairs, should strengthen their supervision over banks' online services to ensure that consumers' rights and interests are not infringed, Cheng said.
The bureau said it had ordered Citibank to close its online application service and suspended the bank's application to open other online services from yesterday, a bureau official said.
"We also asked Citibank to submit a report on its review of this incident and what improvement measures it will take to the Ministry of Finance by Nov. 18, " Huang Tien-mu (
Huang did not say what kind of punishment Citibank might face.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to derail a summit that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival. Ahead of yesterday’s gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, things were going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their No. 1 task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Rutte needed to keep Spain in line while preventing others such as Slovakia