Is Your Kickstarter Data Secure?

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Submitted by RJ Carter on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 07:40

It’s something everyone worries about, even if only a little, when putting all your information into some online form: Will my data be kept secure? Who is going to see this other than myself and the agent on the other end? Can I trust this website?

For the most part, with trusted entities, that answer is yes. Barring the occasional intrusion from bad actors working outside the network of a company, you can usually trust that your information won't be mishandled. (Sold to other companies, sure, or even made available to the government -- but that's a story for another day, right Mr. Zuckerberg?)

So it was a bit alarming when a comic book artist began posting on his social media account the screenshots of personal communiques between Kickstarter and Richard C. Meyer, aka YouTube personality and pariah Diversity & Comics.

The post, from Richard Pace, an artist for the DC Comics realunched Vertigo imprint, was published as a response to the news that Meyer had filed a lawsuit against comic book veteran writer Mark Waid for tortious interference in the publication of Meyer's graphic novel JAWBREAKERS: LOST SOULS. That's not conjecture, as Pace preceded the image with, "Meyer's lawsuit against Waid makes this the right time for this."

Now, it's likely that Pace received this communication from someone close to Meyer who had possession of it and chose to share it with him. That's how Occam's razor would go with the grain slicing this. But Pace says otherwise in a follow-up tweet:

Pace's tweet should give pause to any consumer working with online companies, but it should be particularly chilling to those working with Kickstarter. It's almost unconscionable that staff at the company would share confidential information about a client relationship, but it's still a possibility and one that should be addressed by the online crowdfunding organization that has made possible so many creative achievements, funded by donors.

We have reached out to Kickstarter for comment, but our outreach has not yet been returned.