E-mail glitch reveals others' information

iVillage.com system taken offline after problem revealed

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Women who logged on Thursday to iVillage.com, a Web site network devoted to women, found not only the typical discussions on breast-feeding and children but other people's private messages as well, prompting fears that their own personal comments might be revealed.

Each time the site's users logged on, they saw a different person's messages.

"I tried about seven or eight times and each time got a different users inbox, including someone I recognized from another message board at Parents Place," one of iVillage's Web sites, said Laurie Clark of Fenton, Michigan. Clark said she could access other peoples' messages, though she was careful only to read junk mail.

The problem was verified by The Associated Press. iVillage spokesman Carl Fischer said the company is aware of the glitch and is trying to fix it. As of midday Thursday, the e-mail system was offline.

Comscore Media Metrix, a Web ratings firm, ranks iVillage -- with some 9.5 million users -- among the top 30 Web destinations. The New York-based company recently bought rival Women.com and owns the satellite television network The Newborn Channel, shown in over a thousand hospitals. iVillage also runs the Web sites of several women's magazines, including Cosmopolitan and Redbook.

Free e-mail and privacy fears

Some iVillage users said they feared for their financial well-being as well as their personal privacy.

"I have some e-mails in there from my electric and phone company that may contain my account numbers," Clark said.

Several iVillage message boards referred to the glitch and contained messages from irate members.

"It has happened now about 10 times! I am going to delete anything personal in there ASAP! I don't know why I bother using free stuff!!!!" said one, who identified herself only as "Tina."

Several free Web e-mail systems have gone through their share of problems. Earlier this month, the South China Morning Post reported that people who accessed Yahoo's e-mail service through a mobile phone could see other users' e-mail accounts at random.

Microsoft's Hotmail e-mail service has had several security problems over the last couple years, allowing anyone to read a Hotmail user's e-mail address. Each of the holes took up to a day to fix.

Still, Web e-mail is popular among Internet users. Not only is it free, but some use it as a "throwaway" address when ordering online to protect their home Internet accounts from unwanted advertising. Unlike some home e-mail accounts, it also doesn't have to change when a person moves.

iVillage users said this isn't the first time that they have had problems getting to their iVillage e-mail.

"I've had lots of problems with their e-mail system before and a few months ago almost stopped using it altogether," Clark said. "I changed my mind at the time, but I think I may reconsider."

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