JBord

There are countless things someone could do with a government-issued ID. Allowing someone with ill intent (or not) to get into your home country is just one of the things. Those other things may or may not harm the OP. That said, I'm with the contingent that thinks data breaches ;whether at SPG or other places, are now an unfortunate part of our lives, and you can't run to replace a license and passport every time something happens. The most immediate threat is the credit card, so take care of that.

They're certainly not a reason to be gifted with something you're not entitled to...and in the OP's case, for something he doesn't seem to want since he quit Marriott after learning about the SPG data breach. Of all the restitution I'd want as a victim of a data breach, a silly hotel status would have been the last thing to cross my mind.

Horace

Marriott announced the data breach on November 30, 2018. In other words, 2018 was almost over.

dgcpaphd, how many nights in 2018 had you stayed at that point? Did you have enough nights reserved for December 2018 to put you at 75 nights, but then cancelled those reservations? Even then, I agree with the others here who have posted not to expect to be gifted Platinum Elite.

When Marriott acquired Starwood in 2016, Marriott got many good things... great brands, hotels all over the world affiliated with those brands, millions of SPG members, corporate cost synergies, and competitive advantages. But Marriott also got the Starwood guest reservation database, which, unbeknownst to Marriott at the time, had been breached in 2014. The breach continued for years. When it was discovered and disclosed by Marriott, it was Marriott's problem. It was was legitimately called a Marriott data breach. It didn't matter that it came from Starwood.

Yes, data breaches are bad thing. Whenever there's a news story about a data breach, it makes me wonder how many data breaches there are that have never been discovered.

C17PSGR

And, lets keep in mind, this really isn't a breach. Its a theft by a sophisticated state actor and even though the theft started several years ago, there hasn't been the slightest evidence of any actual impact. One would think Amex would have spotted any issues at least a couple of years ago because of the SPG Amex card and they've clearly stated they haven't.

I don't remember hearing about drivers license info before but may have missed it. As most of us know, many countries require hotels keep passport info. The legacy Starwood approach was to centrally store the info while the legacy Marriott approach was to keep it at the hotel. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

As for the passport info, I've swiped my passport in at least 10 countries this year. Other than perhaps the US and UK, I suspect the other countries databases have all been compromised by the same state actor. It's just another brick in the wall of data being collected ....

Data privacy laws in this situation are a bit silly. The US and EU all know what happened here but have made a political decision to ignore it.

dgcpaphd

Hi, it did not take 75 nights for Platinum status, it took 50. Check with Marriott.

I already had Platinum status. I was close to requalifying for 2019.

My simple question here turned out some good responses. The hostile responses are puzzling.

Nonetheless, I learned from the various posts that it is unlikely I can get back my Platinum status for this year.

That was my question. Thanks to all who answered civilly.

Jaunts

Did AA give you platinum or gold?

In this case, if Marriott was to give out elite status due to the breach (and I don't think that they will), it would probably be Silver Elite. That way people would be considered elite without costing Marriott much of anything in regards to benefits. The main benefits silver members get is the key card that says 'elite' on it.

CPRich

I wasn't aware that the breach yielded physical government-issued IDs. How did that work?

Or, alternately, that you could enter a country with a string of digits (which is what is being discussed). How does that work?

For anyone going through the effort to construct a valid physical passport that passes all scrutiny at entry to the country, getting a number is trivial.

Jaunts

I am jaded. Companies would spend more on encryption and cyber security if they were held more accountable for the damage done by the data leaks. My info has been compromised by a lot of corporations. And it is basically my responsibility to make sure the leaked info won't hurt me, not the company that inadvertently leaked the data. Did Marriott even offer free identity theft monitoring service for a year or something like that? Target, Anthem and Home Depot did, if I remember correctly.

People just need to assume that their info is for sale on the dark web, and plan around it.

JBord

Fair point. Maybe nothing could be done to create a fake passport with the numbers. I guess I'd make a lousy criminal . And to your point, and my earlier one, a credit card is much, much more useful online than a passport number would be.

C17PSGR

In this case, there's not the slightest evidence that information potentially stolen from the SPG reservation system is for sale on the dark web,. For Target and Home Depot, it was readily apparent that information was being sold. Affinity based credit cards offered by the banks/Amex are essentially the canary in the coal mine so that they can catch their is an unusual fraud activity on certain types. Amex has specifically stated it has not seen any such activity.

Any sophisticated state actors with unlimited resources might stop stealing data if there was at least a political price to pay.

But, like everyone, we should check our credit reports frequently -- it's free in the US -- https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action

Also consider "locking" your credit, which is free.

And, of course, every time you enter most countries or have your data collected by most airlines, there is a substantial risk that a sophisticated state actor will collect that information and put it into the same database with the data allegedly stolen from the SPG system.

Horace

Good point that the threshold for Platinum Elite status became 50 nights with the introduction of the combined program in August 2018, and remained that way after the program was rebranded to Marriott Bonvoy earlier this year. (As a longtime Marriott Rewards member, I still think of Platinum Elite as the 75-night tier, even though I know 75 nights changed to Platinum Premier Elite and is now Titanium Elite.)

dgcpaphd, I should have asked, how close did you come to 50 nights during the first 11 months of 2018? If you were close to 50 nights when the Starwood reservation database breach was announced, and you then stopped staying at any of Marriott's brands until the dust cleared, you might be able to make a case that you were on track to make Platinum Elite had it not been for the breach. But I don't think any of us can make a case that we deserve to be bumped up one status tier just because of the breach.

Cledaybuck

Bravada04

In regards to the Data Breach..........it happens in todays world. I get that. The one thing that frustrated me is that everything became so nonchalant for Marriott with all the failures and this just added to it (regardless if it was SPG or not they had to deal with it).
I received the same email - so generalized but yet tells you that TONS of your information was involved. That's it, nothing more?
The email said you have (if I recall correctly) 30 days to respond to the email for questions etc., and after that your email will go nowhere! Because this transition was a damn GONG SHOW and I sincerely feel Marriott does not give one flying %$^ to the customer aspect, I responded asking for some more details because the email they sent to thousands of people was novice to say the least.
...I never received any response back. Simply goes to show Marriott's great customer service.

I without a doubt will be moving my business elsewhere after the next 9 months. I will reach my lifetime Plat status and will move my business elsewhere. That is my plan right now anyway. I just can't believe the difference in service since SPG was laid to rest. Unbelievable difference in so many ways.

Bravada04

I received an email today from "Marriott Privacy"..........it asks me to open the request. I do that and then it says my link has expired (albeit I just received the email today?).

It asks me to type in my email address and they will send me a new access token?

I have no idea what this is or if I want to enter my email address?

Update: I did get a new link and was able to access the webpage. The webpage is BLANK! I would sure like to know if the information they are sending me is important? What gong show! Just have to laugh.

kennycrudup

NO!!!

kennycrudup

I had to get a reply to you ASAP, as that's most certainly a phishing attempt! Send it to trash right away.