Fling, Love Planet and others fall victim of data leaks.

A total of 14 breach events were found and analysed resulting in 50,298,230 exposed accounts containing a total of 19 different data types of personal datum . The breaches found publicly and freely available included Fling, Love Planet, Aternos, Look Book and Forum Community. Sign in to view the full library of breach events which includes, where available, reference articles relating to each breach.

Data Breach Analysis

The first notable platform in this list, Fling, was a dating website that gained notoriety in the mid-2000s as an adult-oriented service. With tens of millions of users, the breach of Fling is particularly significant because dating platforms often contain highly sensitive user information. The nature of Fling's service means that metadata such as personal preferences, chat logs, profile photos, and explicit messaging may also have been at risk, amplifying the potential for blackmail, social engineering, and long-term reputational harm.

Love Planet, another online dating platform with a strong user base in Russian-speaking regions, follows a similar trajectory. While it may not carry the same global profile as Fling, its breach contributes to a pattern: the dating industry continues to be a lucrative target for cybercriminals. These platforms often gather more personal information than typical social networks. Additionally, users often reuse usernames or email addresses, linking their dating profiles to more public or professional personas.

On a different end of the digital spectrum is Aternos, a popular free Minecraft server hosting provider. Although the platform is primarily gaming-focused, the user base skews younger, often involving minors or students. The breach of such a platform raises concerns about child and adolescent data exposure. While the information may seem low-risk on the surface (e.g., usernames, email addresses, or IP logs), it has downstream consequences. If password hashes were weak or reused elsewhere, it could lead to breaches in more sensitive accounts. Moreover, online gaming communities are frequent targets of harassment and fraud, particularly when identifying information leaks.

Look Book is a fashion-oriented social media platform that allows users, often amateur or semi-professional influencers, to share style inspirations and personal outfits. Platforms like this blend social networking with personal expression, making exposed data more valuable than it might initially appear. A data breach here may lead to cross-platform doxing, unwanted contact, or targeted advertising schemes. For individuals trying to establish an online identity or build a brand, such breaches may have significant long-term effects.

Forum Community represents a broader category of general-purpose online forums. These communities typically host a wide variety of discussions and attract users from many walks of life. The risks here are multi-pronged: not only does the reuse of credentials pose a systemic issue, but the content of private messages may also be sensitive, depending on the forum’s focus. Furthermore, many users may have registered years ago, forgotten about their accounts, and yet still face risks from the outdated exposure.

Collectively, the 14 breaches span a wide digital landscape. With 19 different types of personal data involved, the breadth of this exposure is considerable. This data can be repurposed for a range of malicious activities: phishing campaigns, identity theft, harassment, or resale on darknet forums. For example, even seemingly innocuous profile data can be used to impersonate users or verify access to other accounts where multi-factor authentication is weak or absent.

The geographic distribution of these services also contributes to the complexity. While platforms like Aternos and Look Book have global reach, others such as Love Planet and Fling are more regionally concentrated. This diversity can result in data being leaked in multiple languages and regulatory jurisdictions, complicating legal accountability and response efforts.

Importantly, many of these platforms operated for years before the breaches were publicly exposed. Some may no longer be active, meaning that affected users may not have received any notification nor have a clear means of deleting or securing their accounts. Dormant accounts, in this context, become a long-term liability.

Moreover, these breaches reflect a broader trend: personal data is no longer concentrated in a few major tech platforms but dispersed across thousands of niche communities, service providers, and hobbyist sites. Each one represents a potential vector for exposure. When aggregated, even minor leaks contribute to the growing problem of "data fatigue," where individuals lose track of which services hold their information and how it’s being used or compromised.

These 14 breach events form a tapestry of online vulnerability that spans entertainment, relationships, gaming, fashion, and general discourse. They serve as another data point in the ongoing erosion of personal privacy in digital spaces, a situation made more complex by the volume and variety of data collected across platforms that are often seen as recreational or low-stakes.