Essential has announced that it will offer a free unit of the Essential Phone to customers who were recently part of an internal company deficiency, resulting in 70 users having their private data shared with a handful of other customers.

The issue came to the fore when customers started talking about emails they got from Essential demanding access to their private data. The company later clarified that this was due to a customer care error, with Rubin personally apologizing and promising a year’s subscription of LifeLock, which protects users from identity theft.

The CEO of Essential, Andy Rubin, has now mentioned on Twitter that the company will also offer a free unit of the Essential Phone for those affected by this data leak.

https://twitter.com/Arubin/status/903100931218128897

Here’s an excerpt from Rubin’s blog post:

“Being a founder in an intensely competitive business means you occasionally have to eat crow. It’s humiliating, it doesn’t taste good, and often, it’s a humbling experience. As Essential’s founder and CEO, I’m personally responsible for this error and will try my best to not repeat it.”

So if you received an email from Essential asking you to share your personal details, you’re likely to get the Essential Phone free of cost. The whole issue has garnered a lot of negative press for Essential. But it’s good to see Andy Rubin getting ahead of the issue and offering a public apology. Rubin is largely considered the father of the Android platform and was instrumental in its growth.