Maker-funding site Patreon has generated cyber security concerns for users
Patreon enables creators to build relationships with their fans via monthly subscriptions for content in exchange for perks and other benefits and boasts as many as 8 million monthly users on its platform for fans to support creators and artists.
In 2015, Patreon was hacked resulting in the dump of gigabytes of code and user data.
And now in September 2022, Patreon laid off its security team, and a former privacy security engineer, Emily Metcalfe, said she wouldn't trust her data there.
A Patreon spokesperson responded in a written statement. “The changes made this week will have no impact on our ability to continue providing a secure and safe platform for our creators and patrons.”
But employees have characterized the layoffs differently. “I and the rest of the Patreon Security Team are no longer with the company,” Metcalf wrote in a LinkedIn post.
Another former Patreon security employee, who wished to remain anonymous due to the terms of their severance agreement, disputed the company’s claims.
That employee said that the team had already been understaffed prior to layoffs and the company had dramatically cut down on its use of external security vendors in the past four months.
“There are no qualified security personnel,” the employee said. “There is no one there to utilize the tools that we had in place.”
This news has sparked some cybersecurity concerns among users who are increasingly threatening to leave the platform.
Regardless of how bad it actually is (which only people inside know), you can be sure there's something amiss when security people are willing to publicly shit-talk you on the internet after being let go.
All this goes into my reasoning for developing a kind of clone of the Patreon model, for the Music Production area of my own website.