Dunkin' Donuts Reward Program Users' Data Made Vulnerable

The coffee chain says hackers might have accessed customer info through a data breach.

• By Sydny Shepard
• Nov 30, 2018

Users of Dunkin' Donuts' rewards program might have had their data made vulnerable after the coffee chain's security vendors discovered a potential breach on Oct. 31. 

In a letter to rewards program users, Dunkin' explained that its own systems had not been compromised, but rather hackers targeted other companies using the usernames and passwords they obtained to try to break into various online accounts across the internet. 

 Dunkin' security stopped most of the attempt, but customers who used their DD Perks username and password for other accounts unrelated to Dunkin' were vulnerable as the hackers were using these credentials to access several different accounts.

While the coffee company says they are unsure of what data might have been made vulnerable, the accounts held information such as customers' first and last names, email addresses and 16-digit DD Perks account number and DD Perks QR code.

Paul Bischoff, a privacy advocate from Comparitech.com, explained that most people don't understand that the information they give one company becomes the information owned by several companies.

“DD Perks account holders might assume they were only handing over personal details to Dunkin Donuts, but this breach and the company's privacy policy proves otherwise," Bischoff said. "Dunkin Donuts shares customers' personal info with service providers, affiliate companies, franchisees, business partners, and other third parties. In this case, a security vendor used by Dunkin Donuts was breached by hackers."

Those affected by the breach might be wondering what they should do to move forward. Bischoff said your best bet is to change your passwords.

"We do not yet know how many customers were affected by the breach," Bischoff said. "DD Perks account holders who receive the notification should change their password immediately. If you use the same password on any other accounts, those should be changed as well. Be on the lookout for phishing emails pretending to be from Dunkin Donuts.