Breach on my personal data by Etsy?

[InTheBeginningArtz]

I'm pretty sure support tickets are private between the buyer/seller and Etsy. Being this the case... I opened my shop not even a month ago, in 2 weeks time had my first sale and after the first sale Etsy put my account on holiday mode because they need to verify my ID. 

This happened 10 days ago and 8 days ago I opened a support ticket asking how long this will take and that I found it unfair to wait for my very first sale to basically block my shop from selling for something they had more than enough time to verify beforehand. 

I've had a couple of replies from an actual human after the typical automatic message, I did all that was requested and I'm still waiting after these 10 days for something to be done. In the last 7 days I've had no replies from Etsy, nobody came back to me at all regardless of me adding 7 more comments on this ticket in the meantime, one of the comments containing my national ID, driver licence and bank card front (only last 4 numbers visible) as I thought this could speed up the process.

Curiously today, after 7 days without any communication from Etsy, someone replies to my ticket saying just this: "Hi, Any updates on this request?"

I found this to be a very poor joke in all honesty as I've been waiting for what seems to be forever and added 7 comments with no reply before this... Anyway, I replied back saying that on my side all is done and I'm still waiting for ID verification. And THIS is the reply I get:

"I just decided to just close my would be shop seeing as it took this long for this issue and its still not resolved. This seems to be a consistent issue with other people as well and the lack of support and effort on Etsy side to find the root cause why this keeps happening is disappointing. I dont want to put my business in the hands of these kind of people."

Good to remember this is a support ticket when you press "Contact Etsy Support", not a community post like the one I'm writing right now. How on EARTH does this happen? I'd really appreciate some feedback from whoever it may be that has more insight on this and what would be the best steps going forward.

[Vintorious]

That is odd. How did you "Contact Etsy Support" exactly? There is a "Contact us" option in the Shop Manager when you click on "Help." Is that what you selected? And if so, did you get the "Submit a request" page?  Just trying to understand what happened a bit better.

[InTheBeginningArtz]

Contact Etsy Support -> Get Help (Selling On Etsy)... Then you have a list of 8 items to select, from Account access and settings on top to Scams and suspicious messages on the bottom. So I selected whatever gave me the option to select "I still need help" to submit a request to Etsy.

Basically the official and only way of getting help from Etsy. Hope this clarifies.

[InTheBeginningArtz]

I asked the person if she was from support and this is her reply:

"No I was CCed on this ticket because I suppose I had a similar problem? My store was put on suspension because i selected business instead of sole prop and when I was trying to change it I found there was no section that allows me to change the previously incorrect information I entered so when i hit submit the system keeps saying my information is incorrect. My original ticket got closed off and then I was cc'ed on this one."

[cutebutton]

that sounds really suspicious.  Are you 100% positive that the original communication was actually etsy?

Not saying it wasn't but I know there are scams where people think they are talking to etsy support when they aren't.  

That would be very weird for them to give a random person access to anything to do with you. 

[InTheBeginningArtz]

Yes, I am 100% sure. The 2 replies I had before from 8 days ago were definitely from Etsy. For the sake of transparency here is one of the replies:

Dear (my name), Thank you for reaching out to Etsy Seller support. My name is (support guy's name), and I acknowledge your inquiries and any inconveniences you may be facing. I understand the importance of resolving this matter for you.
 
It is good to hear from you again, (my name). Upon reviewing the information and emails discussed, it appears that the details provided are not accurate. Therefore, I kindly request you to initiate the following steps:
 
To update your legal name:
 

1. Access Shop Manager on Etsy.com.
2. Navigate to Finances.
3. Click on Legal and tax information and choose Edit.
4. Under Primary taxpayer ID, click on Edit.
5. Indicate whether you are changing your name for legal or non-legal reasons.
6. Update your name and click on Save & upload documents.
7. Provide a government-issued photo ID. If the name change is for legal reasons, also submit one of the following documents:
   • Marriage certificate
   • Divorce certificate
   • Certificate of commitment
   • Legal document demonstrating your legal name change
8. Select Submit & update.

 
If you need to update your bank information, please ensure that the name on your bank account matches the name or business entity you have provided.
 
Furthermore, I advise you to carefully review and verify that all information aligns between the ID and the details on your shop.
 
I trust this information clarifies the situation. Should you have any further concerns, please do not hesitate to inform us. Following this interaction, you will receive an email containing a brief survey. Your feedback is valuable to us, and I would appreciate it if you could complete the survey to share your experience with us today.

Wishing you the best, (Name of the support guy).

All the words underlined are links to the correspondent profile editing URL.

[cutebutton]

@InTheBeginningArtz 

they will remove your message because you can not diverge private conversations in the forums.

However from what that said it sounds like the information that you provided them didn't match.

I know when I had to do stuff to verify my shop I had to be VERY careful that it was entered EXACTLY as it needed to be.  Maybe go back and double check your info to see if there is a minor error you aren't catching. 

[InTheBeginningArtz]

I replied to them stating that everything was fine as it was, the name on my card is only first and last name and not the exact same as the national ID (my full name is 6 names). On my Legal and Tax Information the document I uploaded is still pending verification so I assume they did not even look at it yet:

"Your document has been submitted for review

We'll look it over and be in touch soon (usually within 2-5 business days). We may reach out if we need more details. Keep in mind: Your shop will stay in Holiday mode until we can verify your info."

Today was the 8th business day.

What is worrying me is that I have an unknown person in a ticket that contains my personal documents that I sent for them to see for themselves the names on the ID and card are not in the same format.

[cutebutton]

@InTheBeginningArtz 

yeah I agree that is worrisome and etsy should not be doing that. 

[EphemeralExpressions]

I could be wrong, but it sounds like the the reply you got from someone regarding a "similar problem" was regarding a previous post you made: https://community.etsy.com/t5/Managing-Your-Shop/Shop-In-Forced-Holiday-Mode-Appalling-Customer-Serv...

Could be they messaged you personally instead of replying to your post in the forums?

[InTheBeginningArtz]

That is not the case. The quotes from the person are written in this post and are not in that previous post. The person wrote directly on my support ticket which is under "My Support Requests".

[PillowDetails]

Edited -it showed under your support requests?  That is truly unusual!

[InTheBeginningArtz]

As stated, the person replied directly on my ticket. Everyone has their individual requests link (https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-gb/requests/) and when I access it and click on the request I'm talking about, that's where the replies are. This would be easier if I could post a screenshot directly here but I feel like I'm writing clearly (might not be the case though).

[UppNorthEh]

wow.  speechless. "CCed on this ticket."  

[InTheBeginningArtz]

Yep, exactly... CCed to a ticket with my personal documents there... Amazing...

[UppNorthEh]

sorry.  this must be very upsetting for you.  I have no idea what's going on, but it's creepy at the very least.

[EphemeralExpressions]

All I can say, is WTH?!  Something is definitely very wrong there.

[InTheBeginningArtz]

Sent an email to Etsy's Data Protection Officer. Hopefully the reply will be quicker than their Seller Support.......

[CraftyCornishMaids]

This has happened before, it was a French speaker, and English speaker, and they were both replying here that both looked like the same account, I can't find the thread here, as I can't remember the actual topic to search for, but it was very odd, and very similar

[cutebutton]

@CraftyCornishMaids 

are you saying that the shops had a similar name and they were somehow getting each other's messages?

I think I vaguely remember that?  

[UppNorthEh]

I do remember that too.  

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@cutebutton 

they were both replying with what looked like the same account here

but they were both adamant they both logged in to their own account

the only way we know who-was-who, was that they wrote in their own language

they had access to each others account.

it went on for a couple of weeks, it was very odd.

[DesertChains]

I remember that case. It was…troubling.

[EphemeralExpressions]

Personally, I would try to contact the person who responded on the ticket, and ask who  CCed them.  There is no way, anyone other than Etsy should be privy to information contained in a ticket.

[InTheBeginningArtz]

Thanks for the tip, just asked her.