The consequences of the massive Twitch data leak that led to 125 GB of data being taken off the platform servers and released onto the web are still playing out for viewers, streamers, and employees of the platform. However, the exact repercussions are still becoming clear, particularly for those who make their living on Twitch. Recently, Twitch announced on its blog that it is confident passwords, Twitch login credentials, full credit card numbers, and ACH/bank information were not released during the leak.
A lot of sensitive information about Twitch and its streamers has been confirmed to be present in the leak, including the income of the top 100 streamers, new Steam competitors, a secret “no-ban” list, and a noticeable lack of diversity among the platform's top streamers. The sheer amount of data involved may make it difficult to believe that Twitch account and banking credentials were not leaked as well.
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According to the Twitch blog post, most of the documents found in the leak came from either Twitch’s source code repository or a subset of creator payout data. Twitch claims to have conducted a thorough review of the files exposed and reports that only a small percentage of users--such as pro wrestling Twitch streamers--were affected. Apparently, the impact on customers as a whole should be minimal, though it seems that some members of the Twitch community may need a little more convincing.
It remains to be seen how the massive data leak will affect Twitch in the long term, especially now that the Twitch "no-ban" list has come to light. Twitch streamers have been complaining about perceived favoritism and ban unpredictability for quite a while, and now they may have solid evidence for their claims. Twitch has previously acknowledged concerns about its security by resetting all stream keys, which means some streamers may need to manually update their software with the new key in order to stream again.
As of writing, it appears that a number of Twitter users still have reservations about Twitch's assurances that their passwords, login credentials, and banking information are secure. One user noted the specific wording of the assurance only mentioned full credit card numbers, but even a name and the last four digits of a credit card number could cause significant fraud issues. It's possible that the details of the biggest Twitch streamers' salaries could be some of the least harmful information shared during the massive Twitch data leak.