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Sears AI chatbot leaks customer data including audio recordings and personal information

Feb 17, 20251 source

Summary

A Sears AI chatbot named Samantha was found to be leaking customer data, including chat logs, audio files, and personal information such as names, phone numbers, and home addresses. Security researcher Jeremiah Fowler discovered three publicly accessible databases containing over 5 million items of data, which were later secured after being reported to Transformco, the parent company. The exposed data included hours-long audio recordings of customer interactions, potentially capturing private conversations and ambient household noise. Transformco has not publicly addressed the breach.

Incident Details

Domain
Privacy & Surveillance

Unauthorized collection, tracking, or exposure of personal data and private information.

Harm Types
Chatbot Harm
Mechanism
conduct
Platforms
Companies
SearsTransformco
Recipient
GroupSears Home Services customers whose personal data, including chat logs, audio files, names, phone numbers, and home addresses, was exposed due to a security breach involving the AI chatbot Samantha.
Dimensions
reputationalautonomyeconomic

Sources

1

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