Carolina Panthers apologize to fans. Here’s why they sent a late-night ‘we’re sorry.’
The Carolina Panthers apologized to fans late Friday after personal information from some of their accounts with the NFL team may have been exposed to other fans, according to a team statement.
The snafu involved a third-party vendor that emailed fans around noon Friday to update their email delivery preferences, Panthers officials said in the alert issued just before 11:30 p.m.
The Panthers didn’t name the vendor.
An error in the form that fans were asked to fill out may have enabled the next fan who opened the form to see the previous fan’s information, officials said. On the form, the vendor requested fans fill in their name, gender, birth date and zip code.
“Our investigation so far indicates that any information included by a fan was overwritten as soon as the next fan input their own data and we have no reason to believe that your information (if any) was retained or misused by any fan,” according to the team statement.
“We also believe that only those who submitted their information prior to 12:26 p.m. (less than 1,750 accounts total) were potentially affected before the issue was resolved by the vendor.
“While we do not believe there is any risk of harm to you, we are notifying you regarding the incident out of an abundance of caution. We take your privacy seriously and apologize for any inconvenience.”
The Panthers advised fans with questions about their profiles to contact customer service via email at Feedback@Panthers.NFL.com; or call or text 704-593-4141.
This story was originally published July 31, 2021 at 10:07 AM with the headline "Carolina Panthers apologize to fans. Here’s why they sent a late-night ‘we’re sorry.’."