Amazon says error exposed customer names and emails

Amazon says a technical error on its website exposed the names and email addresses of some customers.

The online retail giant says it has fixed the issue and emailed those affected. Amazon says its website and systems were not hacked.

An Amazon spokesman did not answer additional questions, like how many people were impacted or whether any of the information was stolen.

Avivah Litan, a senior analyst at Gartner, says email addresses can be used by bad actors for what's known as phishing: contacting people by email and trying to trick them into providing additional sensitive information, like their passwords or Social Security numbers.

The disclosure from Amazon comes as it gears up for the busy holiday shopping season. The Seattle-based company is expected to grab as much as half of all online sales by the end of this year, according to Bain & Co.