How Applying To A Job At Advance Auto Parts Jeopardized My Identity

On April 14th hackers gained access to a cloud-computing business called Snowflake. That company serves clients like AT&T, Ticketmaster, and Advance Auto Parts. The hackers allegedly had access to the private records for these companies until at least May 24. It turns out that my own data ended up collected too, as, several years ago, I applied for a job at Advance Auto Parts. Here’s how I found out and what to do if you’re like me.

“On May 23, 2024, we (Advance Auto Parts) learned that, like many other companies, an unauthorized third party gained access to certain information maintained by Advance Auto Parts within Snowflake, our cloud storage and data warehousing vendor,” the letter reads.

AAP then says that “an unauthorized third party accessed or copied certain information” and then clarifies that data reportedly includes social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, birthdates, and other government-issued identification numbers.

All of this information is requested of anyone who applies for a job at Advance. It’s also all of the same information one might need to steal your identity and open up who knows how many credit cards. What’s a bit wild is that I haven’t applied for a job there in at least the last five years. Why the company still has all of that personal information on file is unclear, but I’ve reached out for comment on that.

Here’s what Advance is doing to try to make things right for individuals like me and maybe you. It sent affected individuals a letter about the situation, but if you’ve moved since you last applied you might not receive it. Don’t worry though, here are the most important parts.

First, it’s offering a year (starting at the date of said letter – for me July 10) of complimentary credit monitoring and identity restoration services through Experian. To actually take advantage of that service one has to enroll in the program. If you didn’t get something in the mail you’ll need to contact Advance Auto Parts (855-545-2743) to get that authorization code.

Once you have that, head over to ExperianIdWorks.com/3bcredit to enroll. From there, the program begins and users get the above-mentioned services, a free credit report, and perhaps most importantly $1 million Identity Theft Insurance. Experian says it’ll even help with identity restoration after the 12 months is up but doesn’t clarify how long that period extends.

Notably, Advance also points out that customers can also choose to freeze their credit altogether should they want to be completely certain that nothing happens with that stolen data. This is very likely the route that I’m going to go.

The thing that none of us wants is to agree to the services only to somehow still have fraud committed in our name and then not have legal recourse against Snowflake or Advance Auto or whoever is responsible. The letter does specifically say ‘complimentary access’ which to me implies that it’s, ya know, complimentary, free, without strings, etc. I’m going to contact a lawyer friend later today and hopefully get a clear picture of just how complimentary this access truly is. After that, I’ll decide whether or not to take advantage of it personally.

On top of that, I didn’t even get the bloody job. On the other hand, here I am sitting at home with a self-made latte and writing to you here at The Autopian so I guess it all worked out.

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