Update: check here for details on how to search the Ashley Madison hacked/leaked database online.

Last week, Ashley Madison subscribers got the shock of their lives when the extramarital affair site was hacked, obtaining personal information on company employees and customers.

The group claiming responsibility for the hack, The Impact Team, were able to obtain sensitive information of the service’s employees and customers and threatened to release the data, which includes messages, addresses and billing information, until the service shuts down. To prove the seriousness of their intent to expose cheaters, the hackers have released information of two alleged Ashley Madison customers. Said to have been picked randomly, one man is from Canada and another from Brockton, Massachusetts.

The Impact Team has released some interesting patterns about Ashley Madison cheaters, including the most active professions for male and female cheaters, and their top 10 hotels of preference.

If you’re an Ashley Madison customer worried your world is crashing in, you’re probably wondering what you can do to prevent more chaos from ensuing.

What happens next?

Delete your account

If you have $19 to spare, Ashley Madison allows you to do a “Full Delete” of your account. This includes removal of your profile from web search results and from the site, removal of sent and received messages, removal of messages from recipients’ mailboxes including Winks & Gifts, removal of site usage history and personally identifiable information from the site, and removal of photos.

If by any chance you do not have the cash to pay for a Full Delete, or you do not want to fully delete your account, you can just choose “Hide My Profile” which is like deactivating your social media account -it’s temporary and reversible.

Because of the hack, Ashley Madison has waived the $19 fee, so customers can now do a “Full Delete” for free. But the hackers explained in a manifesto that accounts aren’t actually fully deleted, and customers will still be identifiable despite paying the $19 fee. The hackers accuse Noel Biderman, the CEO of Ashley Madison and its parent company Avid Life Media (ALM), of having made well over $1.7 million from its “Full Delete” service that doesn’t really delete a user’s profile.

ALM has got your back

If your personal information has already been leaked, then there’s pretty much nothing you can do about protecting yourself, although ALM has taken a huge step to help protect their customers by enforcing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

Sites who have published the leaked information are forced to take down the sensitive information. This may be the reason we have yet to see the stolen data. We could believe that ALM is doing everything in their powers to protect their clients, or we could also believe that the hackers have yet to release the said data because they will be selling it to the highest bidder in the Dark Market.

Sue the bastards

The next step you’re probably thinking is suing Ashley Madison and its parent company because your information was not properly protected. Question is, can you really sue them?

If you’re in the U.K., yes, under the Data Protection Act 1998 which covers how services should take appropriate measures to stop breaches of its personal data, and the users have paid to have their data to be deleted but the service has not actually deleted said data.

Privacy lawyer David Fraser also stated that people who feel jilted by Ashley Madison can indeed sue the service for the breach especially if their personal information being leaked caused financial damages, but if emotional distress will be the basis of the lawsuit, it may not be worthwhile because of the legal fees. However, a class-action lawsuit could be the way to go about this, since the damage will be higher if there are more people affected.

“A large number of people probably find the Ashley Madison site personally repugnant and problematic, but I don’t think the law would make that distinction,” says Fraser. “Regardless of the morality, privacy is about individuals being able to make choices about how their information is collected, used or disclosed.”

But will people be willing to step forward to file a class action lawsuit? Will stepping forward not make it more complicated for the people affected? This will be a potential development worth keeping an eye on.

Confess like your life depends on it

Another action Ashley Madison customers can do before hackers wreck their marriage is to confess about the affair.

According to MarriageHelper.com, it is better for cheaters to come clean rather than have their partner find out another way. If you’re a cheater considering coming clean, Kimberly Holmes of Marriage Helper advises that you should prepare yourself to answer tons of questions. You can’t expect your partner to be mum about finding out you have been unfaithful. Prepare to receive hell and answer all the questions honestly. You should also pick an appropriate time and place for your confession, somewhere that is private and at a time that you won’t be disturbed.

Before confessing, prepare your partner that you are about to say something that will be painful but you are only doing so because you want to save the marriage – if that’s your intention. If you’re looking to save your marriage, don’t demand to be forgiven, as that is something only they can decide. If you really want to be forgiven, be prepared for all the suspicions that will follow, so be patient, as trust between partners is something very difficult to restore. Let your partner know your where about at all times and reassure them that you are not straying once again. It will be a pretty challenging time but by being patient, you save your marriage.

Update: check here for details on how to search the Ashley Madison hacked/ leaked database online.

Photo by geralt (Pixabay)