Subscriber Data Was Delivered With Boston Globe Newspaper
Associated Press

February 1, 2006 1:07 p.m.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113880440386462160.html?mod=home_whats_news_us


BOSTON -- The Boston Globe and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette said slips 
containing the names and credit-card numbers of as many as 240,000 
subscribers of both newspapers were accidentally delivered with bundles of 
papers last weekend.

Officials of the newspapers, both owned by New York Times Co., said Tuesday 
they were notifying customers of the mistake.

"We deeply value the trust our subscribers place in us and we are working 
diligently to remedy this unfortunate situation," said Richard H. Gilman, 
publisher of the Boston Globe, in a written statement. "Immediate steps 
have been taken internally at the Globe and Telegram & Gazette to increase 
security around credit-card reporting."

The Telegram & Gazette said the slips also contained routing information 
for 1,100 of its customers who pay by check. The financial data was on the 
back side of paper that had inadvertently been recycled and used for 
routing slips in 9,000 bundles of the Sunday Telegram & Gazette distributed 
to retailers and newspaper carriers in Worcester, the newspapers said in a 
written statement.

On Monday a merchant noticed the names and credit-card numbers on a routing 
slip and called the newspapers.

"There have been no reports of any unauthorized uses of credit-card 
information," Globe Vice President Al Larkin said Tuesday evening.

Newspaper officials said they are trying to recover as many of the routing 
slips as possible, though many have already been thrown away by merchants.

The Telegram & Gazette has stopped recycling paper that includes customer 
data, officials said. The company has notified American Express, Discover, 
MasterCard, Visa and any banks whose customers may be affected.


=================================================
George Antunes                    Voice (713) 743-3923
Associate Professor               Fax   (713) 743-3927
Political Science                    Internet: antunes at uh dot edu
University of Houston
Houston, TX 77204-3011         



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