When Peloton Lost My Data, It Felt Bad

They are not as prompt as you’d hope.

From Peloton and Echelon to Shopify and Gettr, newcomers to the marketplace often fail to protect user data.

No one takes responsibility after the breach. There is little clarity. It isn’t good to learn someone hacked your favorite exercise platform. It’s worse to remain uncertain about the safety of your data.

Yet companies lack a standard policy for an event that becomes ever more common. This loss of privacy may happen to you.

Don’t assume you’re safe until you see proof.

Peloton caught a bad break

Peloton’s problem was that their application programming interface, or API, was leakier than a Kardashian assistant talking to TMZ.

An API is how software gets to the data it needs to run. APIs let a company open its app to third-party developers.

These rules govern how your iPhone talks to your Facebook account.

How an API works

1. A client application, like WhatsApp, starts an API call to retrieve information. Does Michael have any friends on WhatsApp? It makes a request.