TAKEAWAY CHAIN APACHE Pizza has confirmed that it has been the victim of a data breach.

The company said last night that the incident is associated with information from deliveries but does not include any payment information.

A statement from Apace Pizza said they have reported it to the Data Protection Commission and also will be contacting gardaí.

“Apache Pizza has notified its customers of a data breach which is limited to delivery information shared with the company. The data breach does not concern its customers’ bank or credit card details, none of which are stored by the company.

“We were notified about a data breach on Wednesday, 2June and the content of the data breach was confirmed on Thursday, 3 June last.

“It includes the names, addresses, contact email and phone number of customers, the pizzas they ordered, their encrypted (hashed) password if they have an Apache Pizza account, and in a small number of cases, their date of birth in connection with birthday orders,” the statement read.

The company added that they were continue to trade and apologised to customers.

“Apache Pizza has reported the incident to the Data Protection Commission and are following its guidelines in relation to communicating with customers, employees and other parties. It will also file a report with An Garda Siochana.

“The data vulnerability was quickly closed and the data secured. Various measures have been taken to protect its customers from new data breaches. Apache Pizza wishes to reassure all of its customers that it is safe to share their delivery information and that they can continue to order their favourite pizzas. All of its stores will also remain open as usual.

“Apache Pizza wishes to apologise to anyone who may be inconvenienced by the incident for the inconvenience caused. Customers with questions about the data breach can email privacy@apache.ie for further information,” the statement concluded.

Apache Pizza is Ireland’s largest pizza chain employing 2,400 people across 169 stores.

It announced last week that it is to create 300 jobs as it plans to open 20 new stores in the next six months.

The firm said they saw a 17% increase in sales during the first four months of the year with stay-at-home customers ordering 5.3 million pizzas during the Covid-19 lockdown.  

The new jobs will include roles as supervisors, managers, customer service representatives and delivery couriers.

Additional reporting from Michelle Hennesy.