Free Government Cell Phones

Lifeline phone service provides free cell phones to America's financially disadvantaged

Menu
  • Home
  • How to Qualify
  • How to get one
  • States
  • Providers
  • FAQ
  • News
  • Top-Up
  • Earn Money

WTF? Assist Wireless screws up, exposes tens of thousands of customer IDs

February 13, 2021

Oh, boy. Someone screwed up big time at Assist Wireless and exposed not just thousands, but tens of thousands of its Lifeline customers’ personal customer documents on its website.

Assist offers free government cell phones to low-income Americans in Arkansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri and Oklahoma.

What kind of documents did it accidentally expose to potential identity thieves? Drivers licenses, passports and Social Security cards — all the documents customers routinely use to verify their eligibility to enroll in the Lifeline program.

And when did they expose them? You might have reason to worry if you enrolled during calendar years 2019 and 2020.

Security researcher John Wethington found the exposed documents through a simple Google search result, and asked TechCrunch to alert the carrier to the leak. Assist removed the exposed documents from its website a short time later.

TechCrunch.com explains how the problem was discovered:

Assist told TechCrunch that it traced the issue to a third-party plug-in, Imagify, which the carrier uses to optimize images on its website. Assist said that the plug-in by default puts a backup of uploaded images in a separate folder, but that the backup location in Assist’s case was not secure.

“We have resolved the issue by turning the backup off and removed the folder from public view,” said Assist.

The carrier told TechCrunch it also submitted an “urgent request” to Google to remove the documents from its cached image search results. (TechCrunch held this story until the images were scrubbed.)
Assist said it is investigating if anyone else found the exposed data before the issue was fixed.

Assist’s PR people are dancing as fast as they can to put lipstick on this pig:

“Assist Wireless takes security and consumer data very seriously. We are hiring a third-party security firm to provide us with a thorough security audit and subsequent consultation on ensuring customer data is as safe as possible moving forward.”

The company appears to be taking this seriously, but as we said in our headline, WTF? This isn’t a case of Russian hackers breaking into Assist’s website. It was an internal screw up of epic proportions.

The only good news out of this fiasco: Assist promises to notify customers whose data was accidentally revealed.

Tagged as: Arkansas, Assist Wireless, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma

Want more news from Free Government Cell Phones?

Click here and we'll drop you a line when new articles are up.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comments

  1. Toni Moore says

    August 26, 2021 at 10:57 am

    All of the companies don’t have very good reputation. I don’t know who to pick.

    Reply
  2. Donna Miller says

    June 12, 2021 at 5:30 am

    Assist wireless keeps messing up leave me hang!Service getting worse

    Reply
  3. Henry says

    May 19, 2021 at 2:59 pm

    Assist Wireless information stated that they offer service in my state, I enter a local zip code and the response is that it is not available. Since they appeared to have been hacked, good that I was not eligible anyway.

    Reply
    • Henry says

      September 23, 2021 at 2:53 pm

      Things keep changing with the Lifeline providers. Assist Wireless now says it is available and Terracom wireless now says that are not available, but before they were.

      Reply
      • Free Government Cell Phones says

        September 23, 2021 at 2:55 pm

        Absolutely. It’s a constant battle to keep up-to-date with current offerings.

        Reply
        • Henry says

          September 23, 2021 at 4:40 pm

          Need to revise my comment about Terracom wireless. They still are available in my area. However, Terracom Online is not available. I think it is the non-Lifeline affiliate of the company. Terracomwireless.com versus Terracomonline.com

          Going to the wrong website may get you the wrong information!

          Reply
Previous Post: Number of free government cell phone customers drops by two million in last three years
Next Post: Crisis in free government cell phone program: Will new demands kill off service providers?

Just tell me how to get a Phone!

Confused? Getting a phone is actually very simple. Click here to begin, read every word, and then simply follow the instructions.

Sign up for our Free Newsletter

Click to learn more...

Search this site

More Information

  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Readers' Questions
  • Help
  • Contact
  • About Us

Recent Articles

Q Link busted again: FCC proposes $62,000,000 fine for ACP “fraud”

Horrifying: California giving food stamps to undocumented migrants, taking free government cell phones away from citizens and legal residents

11 things you need to know about the new Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)

Q Link Wireless raided by FBI, IRS, US Post Office, Sheriffs

Limited time only: Free unlimited talk, unlimited text AND unlimited data

Q Link F ups continue: Company makes it easy to access private customer info

Were our readers right? Are free government cell phones hacked before they’re activated?

Crisis in free government cell phone program: Will new demands kill off service providers?

Number of free government cell phone customers drops by two million in last three years

Leading industry analyst calls for universal broadband and free government cell phones for everyone who needs them

Latest Reader Comments

  • Free Government Cell Phones on How do I get a replacement for a lost, stolen or broken phone?: “You need to speak to your service provider, Amity. If you’ve had your phone long enough they may replace it…” Sep 30, 06:52
  • Amity Thomas on How do I get a replacement for a lost, stolen or broken phone?: “I have a government phone it’s an Hd vortex 65 and it is broken It turns on off won’t work…” Sep 30, 02:28
  • Free Government Cell Phones on enTouch Wireless Free Cell Phones: “Contact enTouch customer service to get the most accurate, complete answer to that question.” Sep 29, 20:11
  • Free Government Cell Phones on Can my phone be deactivated if I don’t use it enough?: “We’re not your service provider, Jerry. You need to contact that company’s customer service department.” Sep 29, 20:10
  • Free Government Cell Phones on Question of the day: Is there a website with all the dates and times of places where you can get a free government cell phone?: “Did you read the article, Sarah? We strongly urge our readers NOT to enroll at street events.” Sep 29, 20:09
  • Bobbie Zehner on enTouch Wireless Free Cell Phones: “What type of phone card can I use for entouch wireless” Sep 29, 11:25
  • Sarah on Question of the day: Is there a website with all the dates and times of places where you can get a free government cell phone?: “Where are they giving free government cell phones today in Burlington Iowa” Sep 29, 11:22
  • Free Government Cell Phones on I’m afraid I’ll get busted for having more than one free government cell phone. How can I cancel the extra account?: “Very doubtful that you’ll have any problem, Jayden. The most they would have done is cancel the second account and…” Sep 29, 10:37
  • Euraina Jerry on Can my phone be deactivated if I don’t use it enough?: “Need to be sure my Gen-Mobile phone is deactivated. Don’t have phone anymore Any free government should be deactivated since…” Sep 29, 01:39
  • Jayden on I’m afraid I’ll get busted for having more than one free government cell phone. How can I cancel the extra account?: “I signed up for my own lifeline account without checking with my family whether or not they had benefits because…” Sep 28, 22:38
Copyright 2022 FreeGovernmentCellPhones.net. | Privacy Policy | Contact