What happened during the Fling.com data breach?

In late April 2016, the adult dating site Fling.com suffered a major data breach that impacted more than 40 million users. The breach resulted in the exposure of personal details such as email addresses, usernames, passwords, dates of birth, and sexual preferences. The information was later found circulating in online black markets and this compromised user privacy on a large scale. The compromise of such sensitive information raised serious concerns about internet security and the protection of personal data on adult websites, which often maintain more personal and sensitive user information than typical online services. It also highlighted the importance of strong cybersecurity measures for companies handling user data.