Swiss Starbucks customers found vulnerable due to insecure WiFi
The investigation by SRF found that hackers could easily gain access to names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of customers at a Starbucks shop in Bern.
Keystone
An investigation by Swiss Public Television, SRF, found that data wasn’t sufficiently protected when customers used WiFi at cafes in Switzerland of the global coffee chain.
Free WiFi access at Starbucks – one of the great perks offered by the company – was investigated by the SRF consumer programme “KassensturzExternal link”. The programme worked with experts at the Dreamlab cyber security firm to hack into the WiFi system at one of the Starbucks cafes in the Swiss capital, Bern.
The investigation revealed that with a free downloadable app, Dreamlab could quickly and easily find the so-called MAC-address of users (a unique identifier for every device connected to a network) that enable it to access data entered by customers. This includes customers’ names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses that could be used to steal identities and commit various crimes.
The federal data protection law clearly states that a WiFi operator must treat customer data confidentially and ensure its integrity as well as its protection.
Marc Peter from DreamLab and a professor of digital transformation explained that “public WiFi networks are generally seen as insecure. Especially those abroad shouldn’t be used”.
In a response to the “Kassensturz” report, a Starbucks spokesperson said there were no indications any customer data had been compromised and that in the meantime the company had implemented measures blocking access to customers’ personal information.
Popular Stories
More
Swiss oddities
Mennonite movement turns 500 in Zurich, where it all began
Train vs plane: would you take a direct train between London and Geneva?
Eurostar is planning to run direct trains from Britain to Germany and Switzerland from the early 2030s. Would you favour the train over the plane? If not, why not?
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Restoring people power to personal data
This content was published on
Recent scandal of Cambridge Analytica using Facebook data has given impetus to projects designed to give people control of their private information.
This content was published on
Switzerland’s data protection and information commissioner says he wants to inform the public about the misuse and abuse of personal digital data.
This content was published on
The Swiss food giant Nestlé is set to pay Starbucks $7.1 billion (CHF7.1 billion) to market the American firm’s products outside Starbucks’ coffee shops.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.