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Lawson today announced the results of an investigation concerning the leak of LAWSON PASS cardholder information. LAWSON PASS is a credit card issued by Lawson and affiliate LAWSON CS Card, Inc. (LCS). The investigation was conducted at Lawson by a joint committee of the three companies involved—Lawson, LCS and a systems development outsourcing company. Lawson also announced additional internal measures designed to protect personal information, as well as salary reductions for some members of senior management.
The investigation committee, which was chaired by Yasuyuki Takai, an attorney from outside Lawson, interviewed relevant people and gathered related information and documents. The committee's findings were as follows:
The Personal Information Protection Committee, chaired by President Takeshi Niinami, has decided on the following policies for the protection of all customer information, including that held by stores, and not just LAWSON PASS cardholder information. These policies supplement security measures previously announced on July 15 of this year.
Due to the concern caused to cardholders by the leak of personal information, the following members of Lawson's senior management team will take a reduction in salary or receive a reprimand:
Takeshi Niinami | President and CEO | 10% pay cut for 3 months |
Teruo Aoki | Senior Executive Vice President (formerly Chief Information Officer (CIO)) |
20% pay cut for 3 months |
Susumu Hasegawa | Senior Vice President,
General Manager, Information Systems Office (Currently CIO) |
20% pay cut for 3 months |
Shigeaki Kawahara | Senior Vice President, Marketing Division |
10% pay cut for 3 months |
Leader, Information Systems Office | Person in Charge of Systems Development | Reprimand |
June 9 | Inquiry from cardholder |
June 10 | Internal investigation launched |
June 18 | Inquiry from another cardholder |
June 19 | Cardholder information leak confirmed |
June 23 | Investigation committee formed and law enforcement authorities contacted |
June 24 | Personal Information Protection Committee formed |
June 26 | Press release issued on leak of cardholder information |
July 9-12 | Letter of apology sent to cardholders |
July 15 | Press release made concerning measures for securing |
personal information. Key points of the press release were as follows: |
<Announcement on Measures to Secure Cardholder Information>
Lawson wishes to again express its sincerest apologies to cardholders for the worry and concern caused by the information leak, which led to some customers receiving unsolicited direct mail. Lawson continues to work with law enforcement authorities and to enhance security so as to tighten the management of important cardholder information and win back the trust and confidence of cardholders.
August 6, 2003
Takeshi Niinami
President and CEO
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