A startup that chooses where to invest people's money admits it accidentally emailed sensitive data to the wrong people
The company, led by CEO and founder Nick Hungerford, said that a coding fault in its email platform "Nutmail" meant that 32 customers saw other individual's investment reports when they logged into their own accounts.
The incident occurred after 32 clients were wrongly placed into a group to receive messages from Nutmail. As a result, they were able to access other people's personal data, including names, addresses and investment details.
Nutmeg, a company backed by prominent venture capitalists like Balderton and tipped to be London's next fintech unicorn, has reported itself to the Information Commissioner's Office, which regulates data protection issues, and informed the 32 customers affected by the incident.
"Due to a technical error on September 1, a small number of customer suitability reports were sent to the wrong people," said Hungerford.
"This was identified and rectified immediately, and all customers affected were contacted directly to inform them of the issue and apologise," he added.
Hungerford, who used to work at stock broker Brewin Dolphin and Barclays wealth management, assured Nutmeg's customers that the incident will not happen again, adding that the company had implemented further development procedures and testing.
Nutmeg makes investment management services that are usually reserved for the wealthy available online for sums as small as £1,000 ($1,530). Savers can set goals like buying a house or paying for university and Nutmeg's money managers will invest their cash accordingly.
Other investors in the company include ICAP founder Michael Spencer, Carphone Warehouse founder Sir Charles Dunstone, and FTSE 100 asset management company Schroders.