South African coffee chain Bootlegger Coffee Company has confirmed that business and personal information was exposed after an old internal operations dashboard was left accessible following a system migration.
Group CEO Ricky Ruthenberg said the company discovered the potential data exposure on the afternoon of 15 October 2026. The affected platform was an older version of BOS, a dashboard previously used to manage café operations, trade reports, store visits and operational tasks.
According to Ruthenberg, Bootlegger had already moved BOS to a more secure environment, but historical information remained on the previous platform, which had not been fully decommissioned.
The company took the legacy dashboard offline on the same day after its IT and governance teams intervened.
What Information Was Exposed?
The information included business performance figures, café development pipeline details, Google listing information and business contact details.
Personal information potentially affected included franchisees’ and operators’ names and email addresses, as well as general managers’ names and mobile numbers.
Bootlegger said the platform did not contain customer data and that there was currently no evidence that its databases or core business systems had been accessed.
The company is continuing its investigation and plans to notify the Information Regulator in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). It is also contacting affected franchisees, operators and managers.
Questions Over Cybersecurity And AI
The incident comes as Bootlegger has been expanding its use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in its operations.
Ruthenberg previously described how experimenting with Anthropic’s Claude helped him develop applications and automate business processes. He also encouraged employees to explore AI tools and share their experiences.
However, the company has not confirmed whether AI was used to develop the affected BOS dashboard.
The incident highlights the importance of properly retiring outdated systems, restricting access to business information and checking that sensitive data remains protected during technology upgrades.
Bootlegger says its investigation is ongoing and that it will provide further updates as more information becomes available.
Main Image: Bootlegger Coffee
