O2
Mobile network and home broadband provider, O2, has come clean about leaking user information online this week, stirring up questions about the security of browsing via its connections.
It emerged that when O2 customers were browsing certain websites on their smartphones, their personal details, including mobile numbers, were being given to the sites in question, without their knowledge.
O2 was hit with a torrent of complaints via Twitter once users were made aware of the issues, but it stopped short of actually showing contrition that data had been distributed under the radar, instead apologising for any concern it had caused its customers.
This incident has highlighted a wider issue relating to just what information is shared every time we point our laptops, desktops, tablets and smartphones at a website.
O2 is not the only provider that has come under fire, since back in 2010, it was the turn of Orange UK to be accused of a similar number-revealing scandal, which it was similarly quick to remedy, once it had been brought to the attention of the masses.
O2 has confirmed that it was never intentionally dishing out the numbers, with the fault instead blamed on a recent upgrade, but customers will be rightly worried about what else is being shared without their knowledge.