Ashley Madison Offers Full And Free Account Removal After Data Breach

After Ashley Madison faced a hack that’s putting its 37 million members at risk, the hookup site is now offering free and full account deletion for all of its members.

Ashley Madison is hard at work today. The company released a statement earlier today after it was reported that they were hacked by an anonymous group, who’s willing to out all 37 million members who use the site to cheat on their spouses. Ashley Madison released another statement saying that it will now offer its $19 account deletion for free. And another thing, this feature will allow all members to fully remove their profiles.

“We were recently made aware of an attempt by an unauthorized party to gain access to our systems. We apologize for this unprovoked and criminal intrusion into our customers’ information. We have always had the confidentiality of our customers’ information foremost in our minds, and have had stringent security measures in place, including working with leading IT vendors from around the world.”

“At this time, we have been able to secure our sites, and close the unauthorized access points. We are working with law enforcement agencies, which are investigating this criminal act. Any and all parties responsible for this act of cyber–terrorism will be held responsible. Using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), our team has now successfully removed the posts related to this incident as well as all Personally Identifiable Information (PII) about our users published online.”

“Contrary to current media reports, and based on accusations posted online by a cyber criminal, the “paid-delete” option offered by AshleyMadison.com does in fact remove all information related to a member’s profile and communications activity. The process involves a hard-delete of a requesting user’s profile, including the removal of posted pictures and all messages sent to other system users’ email boxes. This option was developed due to specific member requests for just such a service, and designed based on their feedback.”

“As our customers’ privacy is of the utmost concern to us, we are now offering our full-delete option free to any member, in light of today’s news.”

As previously reported via the Inquisitr, members could only hide their profiles. It allows them to return months or years later if they change their minds. Members would hide their profile by going to the “Profile Options” page and choose the box that says “Check this box if you wish to temporarily hide your profile.” There’s also the “Full Delete” option for $19, which guarantees to “remove all traces of your usage.”

Ashley Madison still doesn’t give details on what happens whether you choose to hide your profile or fully delete it. So many members assume that the fully delete option is the only way to have your profile off of Ashley Madison’s servers. Unfortunately, for them, the Impact Team already has their information, which they’re willing to release.

Ashley Madison also claims that it has successfully removed all of the hackers’ posts related to the data breach, including the sensitive personal information about its members. But the Impact Team claims that they already have the information and are planning to release it unless Ashley Madison shuts down for good. According to them, they not only have information on its 37 million Ashley Madison members, but also information on members from other hookup sites such as Cougar Life and Established Men.

It looks like Ashley Madison is a little late for adding the “Full Delete” option for free since the Impact Team has rumored to have leaked the information somewhere on the web.

[Image: Ashley Madison]