Major technical breakdown at Klarna when customers saw other people's data - The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (FI) has contacted the company
Payment giant Klarna, which has 87 million customers globally, is currently experiencing major technical problems. Users of the company's app saw other customers' payments and personal data, before it was shut down completely. The supervisory authority Finansinspektionen, FI, has asked Klarna to explain what happened.
In its app, Klarna has major technical problems. It means that users were logged into other customers' accounts and thereby see sensitive data such as their payment and purchase history and postal address. Users were also able to see part of the bank details linked to Klarna, but not the full account number.
One of Di's journalists accessed an account belonging to "Elisabeth". When the app was reloaded, another customer's login became visible.
When customers logged in with their own bank ID, they accessed other people's accounts. Each time they refreshed the page on the app, they brought up the details of a new, seemingly random user. It is unclear whether customers have been able to shop with other people's money.
Klarna had a total of 87 million consumers worldwide at the end of 2020, but it's unclear how many of those have an account on the company's app. The technical breakdown also extends beyond Sweden's borders, with outraged reactions pouring in on Twitter from Klarna users in various countries.
Klarna has now closed the app, citing a service outage. The company's press officer Niklas Gillström will return to Di after a while with a written comment.
"We are currently experiencing disruptions in our systems caused by technical problems. We are doing our utmost to restore the system and our services to full capacity and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause our customers. We have currently blocked all logins to the app until we are sure the problem has been fully resolved."
Di continues to seek the company for follow-up questions on whether the technical problems are due to an internal breakdown or external influence, how seriously the company views the sharing of personal data between users and whether customers may now have accidentally traded with other people's money. Klarna has asked for a response.
The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority, FI, which among other things is the supervisory authority for banks, states that it has been informed of the situation.
"We have contacted Klarna and asked them for an explanation of what has happened," says Karin Lundberg, head of the business area Banking, to Di.
At the moment, FI has no further comments, she adds.
Di also seeks the Privacy Protection Authority, IMY, formerly known as the Data Inspectorate, for comment.
IMY has the right to fine companies up to 4 percent of their global annual turnover for serious violations. In addition, Klarna could face civil litigation, not least in the US where it has 15 million users.
(Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator)