Insurtech Lemonade disclosed that the driver’s license numbers of approximately 190,000 insurance applicants were mistakenly shared with a third-party data provider due to a technical issue in its auto insurance quote process, according to BestWire.
In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company stated that the data was transmitted without the usual safeguards. Lemonade has since addressed the vulnerability.
The company said it does not believe its systems were breached or that customer data was specifically targeted.
Lemonade’s sales and marketing expense, which includes growth-related spending, rose to $36 mn in the fourth quarter, up from $13.4 mn in the same period the previous year.
This incident highlights ongoing challenges in securing online insurance platforms, as similar breaches have affected other insurers in recent years.
The company stated that this increase was accompanied by a focus on marketing efficiency, with efforts directed at expanding reach through channel diversification and brand activity, supported by an internal model for optimizing investment.
