Thousands of phone numbers, plus email and postal addresses, available in archived spreadsheets
It turns out this weekend’s news about the ESA inadvertently leaking journalists’ details is not without precedent.
GamesIndustry.biz has learned that databases of personal information for media professionals attending E3 are also available from two previous years.
While both these events were so long ago the details are likely out of date, the fact they are publicly available still raises concerns.
The databases we have seen contained more than 2,800 listings for journalists who attended one E3, and more than 3,300 for those who attended another.
These listings include full names, job titles, addresses (often work, but some for home), email addresses, phone numbers and fax numbers.
While the details are not publicly available through the E3 website as it stands today, they have been discovered when searching archived versions of the site.
GamesIndustry.biz has contacted the ESA for comment.
It emerged over the weekend that personal details for over 2,000 journalists, YouTubers and analysts were accidentally leaked via an attendance database for E3 2019.
The trade body has since offered an explanation and apologised, but it has done little to calm the outrage within the games media community.
The statement does claim that “for more than 20 years, there has never been an issue.” The databases we have seen prove otherwise.
