ClearVoice Surveys clearvoicesurveys.com ClearVoice Surveys data breach: what happened and what to do
ClearVoice Surveys had a database backup from 2015 taken and shared in April 2021. Have I Been Pwned lists 15,074,786 accounts, with names, addresses, dates of birth, genders, IP addresses, phone numbers and plain text passwords.
View all 13,115 breaches- Breach date
- 23 Aug 2015
- Affected
- 15,074,786
- Data exposed
- Dates of birth, Email addresses, Genders, IP addresses, Names, Passwords, Phone numbers, Physical addresses
- Verified
- Yes
- Last updated
Source: Have I Been Pwned (CC BY 4.0)
ClearVoice Surveys is a market research survey company. Have I Been Pwned lists 15,074,786 accounts from a breach it dates to August 23, 2015, added in April 2021.
What happened
In April 2021 a publicly facing database backup from 2015 was taken and shared on a popular hacking forum. ClearVoice Surveys said it was aware of the breach and confirmed it was authentic. In its notice to state regulators, the company said it learned of the issue on April 17, 2021, when someone emailed to say they had accessed the backup, which held survey participant profile information from August and September 2015. It was then operating as ClearVoiceResearch.com, LLC.
What was exposed
15 million unique email addresses across more than 17 million rows that also included names, physical and IP addresses, genders, dates of birth, phone numbers and plain text passwords. Plain text means no hashing at all: anyone with the file could read the password.
What that means for you
Plain text passwords are the main risk. If you reused a password from 2015, it's worth treating it as public. The date of birth, address and phone number combination is also useful for identity theft attempts and targeted scam calls, even though the data is old.
What to do if you were in it
- 1
Change your ClearVoice Surveys password and anywhere you reused it
The passwords were stored as plain text, which attackers can crack, especially weak ones. Pick a new, unique password for ClearVoice Surveys and for any other account that shared it. A password manager makes that painless.
- 2
Turn on two-factor authentication
Use an authenticator app or a passkey on your email, banking and shopping accounts. A leaked password then isn't enough to log in.
- 3
Freeze your credit if your date of birth was exposed
A freeze at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion is free and blocks new credit in your name.
- 4
Expect phishing that mentions ClearVoice Surveys
Names, emails and phone numbers let scammers write believable messages. Treat unexpected emails and texts that mention ClearVoice Surveys or your orders with suspicion, and go to the site directly instead of clicking links.
- 5
Check whether your email or phone is in this and other breaches
Run a free Serus scan. Serus monitors breach databases and the dark web and alerts you when your data appears, so you hear about the next one early. It can't remove data from a breach, so the alert is the useful part.
Frequently asked
Was I affected by the ClearVoice Surveys breach?
Check your email on Have I Been Pwned, which lists 15,074,786 accounts.
What was exposed?
Names, email, physical and IP addresses, genders, dates of birth, phone numbers and plain text passwords.
Is the data recent?
The backup is from 2015, but it was taken and shared in April 2021. Old data can still be used for scams.
Should I change my password?
Yes, change any password you used in 2015 that you still use anywhere.
Sources
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