data leak
English
Noun
data leak (plural data leaks)
- (computer security) Accidental exposure of sensitive data.
- Coordinate term: data breach
- 2018 October 12, Julia Carrie Wong; Olivia Solon, “Google to shut down Google+ after failing to disclose user data leak”, in The Guardian:
- The parallel was not lost on Google, and the company chose not to disclose the data leak, the Wall Street Journal revealed Monday, in order to avoid the public relations headache and potential regulatory enforcement.
- 2021 July 18, Paul Lewis, “Huge data leak shatters lie that the innocent need not fear surveillance”, in The Guardian:
- One phone that has contained signs of Pegasus activity belonged to our esteemed Mexican colleague Carmen Aristegui, whose number was in the data leak and who was targeted following her exposé of a corruption scandal involving her country’s former president Enrique Peña Nieto.
Usage notes
- Sometimes used interchangeably with data breach, a data leak normally implies a relatively low effort to obtain the data.