Marriott data breach may affect 500M guests

BETHESDA, MD.— A security breach at one of North America’s largest hotel groups, which includes the Sheraton, Westin, Starwood and Marriott brands, has exposed the personal information of as many as 500 million guests.

Marriott International, Inc. said Friday that credit card numbers and expiration dates of some guests may have been taken but it hasn’t yet determined if the payment information has been decrypted. It said that it learned during an investigation that began in September that there had been “unauthorized access” to the Starwood reservation data since 2014.

For as many as two-thirds of those affected, exposed data could include mailing address, phone number, email address, passport number, Starwood Preferred Guest account information, date of birth, gender, arrival and departure information, reservation date and communication preferences. For some guests, the information was limited to name and sometimes other data such as mailing address, email address or other information.

“We fell short of what our guests deserve and what we expect of ourselves,” CE0 Arne Sorenson said in a prepared statement. “We are doing everything we can to support our guests, and using lessons learned to be better moving forward.”

Marriott said email notifications to those who may have been affected will begin rolling out Friday.

Corey Larocque, a spokesperson with the Canadian Office of the Privacy Commissioner, said Marriott informed the office of the breach Friday and the office is “following up” with the company.

Due to confidentiality, Larocque said he could not provide further details, but said the commissioner has not opened a formal investigation or received complaints around the breach.

Marriott acquired Starwood Hotels in 2016. When their merger was announced in November 2015, Marriott had 54 million members of its loyalty program and Starwood had 21million. Many travellers were members in both programs. The company manages more than 6,700 properties across the globe. Most are in North America.