Research firm emails 20,000 addresses in the clear

We've almost got bored of stories about people sending emails to lots of subscribers without using the BCC field, but not when the mail is sent to 20,000 people.

Today's doofus is investor research company Digital Look. It sent a mail yesterday morning which revealed 22,129 email addresses. Whoops.

Two hours later Digital Look sent an apology email and asked users to delete the offending missive. The email reads:

It has come to our notice that a small number of people received an erroneous email from us this morning containing a random list of email addresses.

We are extremely sorry for the human error that caused this problem and we are currently taking steps to ensure that this can never happen again. We take your privacy very seriously and our team are working hard to put in additional safety measures right now.

Pointy hat and corner-standing duty for someone, we think.

The mail continued reassuringly:

The other investors who received the email were all private investors who use the Digital Look website, and I would like to think that, like yourself, they are sensible and responsible people and won't misuse the email details that they received.

Such faith in users is truly touching in this day and age.

The email also said only a small number of people received the mail. We could of course test this by sending our own email and waiting for bounce-backs, but that would probably annoy a lot of people.

The mail ends with a further apology and an address for formal complaints. ®