NZ Post apologises after breach of online shopping service security

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New Zealand Post is apologising to customers following security problems with its online shopping service.

Customers of YouShop, which lets them order goods online from the USA, UK and Europe, were told last week that other account holders who logged on to the site have been able to access "some limited account information".

Account holders were told in an email last week that a privacy issue had been reported by a YouShop customer. "It appears that this user was able to see some limited account information in another YouShop user's account after logging into the site," it said.

The email said as an added precaution, login access to the NZ Post online account would be restricted until further notice.

"Partial credit card details, mailing addresses and some product information were accessed," an NZ Post spokesman said.

But he said no usable credit card detail or other financial information was divulged.

"We have apologised to YouShop customers for the inconvenience and are contacting those customers who were affected."

The spokesman said the matter had been addressed and "a number of fixes" were put in place to make sure customers' information are now secure.

He said an NZ Post analysis to date showed fewer than 10 customers were affected.

"We are confident this number will remain about at that level," said the spokesman.

"We have isolated the issue and determined that it occurred in a rare combination of circumstances."