The Glasswasherparts.com data breach letter puts forward certain economic concepts such as the theory of external costs where firms transfer a cost to their customers after their product has caused a problem which the consumer did not cause in the first place. The letter also relates to information asymmetry, where the clients do not have any knowledge regarding the problem of security’s scope. In social science, this is connected with trust in institutions since people need to trust that the business will keep their personal data safe and risk perception, when people are made to feel more secure by doing what has been recommended. In summary, these concepts illustrate the role that trust and equity play in e-commerce and information security.