Security Breach Touches Off Debate About Charities’ Duty to Donors

The security breach that affected 92 charities that raise money online with the help of the Convio software company has touched off a debate about how charities should tell donors about the incident, reports The New York Times.

Last month, Internet hackers gained access to the e-mail addresses and passwords of thousands of donors, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported.

So far, no fraudulent activities as a result of the breach have been reported. Nonprofit experts said only a handful of the charities affected appeared to have warned their donors about the problem, possibly out of concern about dampening year-end gifts.

Alan Benamer, who writes the Nonprofit Tech Blog, said the lack of notice charities had given shows “that nonprofits don’t understand the nature of security.”

One group that did notify donors was United Animal Nations. The group said that as a result, 2 percent of the subscribers to the charity’s online newsletter had unsubscribed.