Marriott International – Data Breach
Earlier today Marriott International announced that 500 million customers have been affected by a data breach.
Based on current information, we don’t believe you are at greater risk of fraud if you used your Tide card at any of the Marriott properties.
The story so far
Marriott International has announced that the personal information of up to 500 million guests may have been accessed from the guest reservation database of its Starwood division of hotel chains.
News reports have stated that 327 million guests may have had personal information accessed – including their name, email address, phone number, home address, passport number, date of birth, gender, account information, and communication preferences.
Some customers may have also have had their payment card information accessed.
Who was affected
The breach was within Marriott International’s Starwood division, whose brands include:
– Westin Hotels
– St. Regis
– Sheraton Hotels & Resorts
– Westin Hotels & Resorts
– Element Hotels
– Aloft Hotels
– The Luxury Collection
– Tribute Portfolio
– Méridien Hotels & Resorts
– Four Points by Sheraton
– Design Hotels
– Starwood branded timeshare properties
The Marriott group has confirmed they will be contacting all customers whose email addresses were within their Starwood reservation database. This database only contained the details of reservations made on or before 10th September 2018.
What to do
The transaction data that was taken was encrypted, meaning that it can’t been viewed without the correct key. So far, there hasn’t been anything to suggest that this key was compromised, making it very unlikely that the data could be viewed by anyone else.
As a result, we don’t believe you are at greater risk of fraud if you used your Tide card at any of these properties.
Because of this, you don’t need to freeze or cancel your card. We will be monitoring the situation closely and are monitoring all Tide accounts who may have been affected.
Marriott has set up a dedicated help website for those affected, as well as a free helpline. Customers in the UK can dial 0808 189 1065.