Fears for Irish customers’ details in Marriott data hack
Fears have risen that the financial and personal details of Irish tourists have been severely compromised after the €36.5bn hotel chain Marriott said that a key reservation system had been hacked.
The hack has potentially exposed the data of 500 million guests of the hotel in what could be one the world’s largest ever data breaches.
Marriott said there was “an unauthorised access” to a database of the reservations system of its Starwood hotels and warned that “information of up to approximately 500 million guests who made a reservation at a Starwood property” were at risk.
“For approximately 327 million of these guests, the information includes some combination of name, 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,” Marriott said.
In Ireland, a Marriott spokeswoman said the Sheraton Athlone Hotel and The Westin Dublin were Starwood hotels in Ireland. The Westin and Sheraton Athlone hotels both referred queries to Marriott.
And Irish Travel Agents’ Association spokesman said the business group was concerned by the breach. “The Irish Travel Agents’ Association is concerned at any breach that could affect consumers and the Irish public,” she said.
Starwood hotels around the world include W Hotels, St Regis, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, Westin Hotels and Resorts, Element Hotels, Aloft Hotels, The Luxury Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Le Méridien Hotels and Resorts, Four Points by Sheraton and Design Hotels, as well as Starwood branded timeshare hotels.
“We deeply regret this incident happened,” said Arne Sorenson, Marriott’s president and CEO.
“We are working hard to ensure our guests have answers to questions about their personal information, with a dedicated website and call centre,” he said.
Shares in Marriott International slumped almost 7%, to value the hotel group at €36.5bn.
