Flickr Notifies Users of Data Breach After External Partner Security Flaw

Flickr says a third-party email vendor flaw may have exposed user names, emails, IP data, and activity logs, though passwords and payments stayed secure.

A security flaw at a third-party email service provider has potentially exposed the personal details of Flickr members. On February 5, 2026, the popular photo-sharing platform was alerted to a vulnerability within a system managed by one of its external vendors. This loophole may have allowed unauthorised individuals to view specific member data.

Flickr, currently operated by SmugMug, acted quickly to address the issue, disabling access to the compromised system within hours of the discovery. For your information, this incident follows a similar pattern to a recent security report involving Substack, newsletter platform. As reported by Hackread.com, a hacker using the alias ‘w1kkid’ claimed on February 2, 2026, to have extracted over 662,000 user records from Substack, a breach the company’s CEO only ...