These former college athletes were told a coach may have hacked into their private photos

Volleyball has been a source of joy for Aly Torline, shaping her from a kid in club leagues to collegiate athlete.

Volleyball has been a source of joy for Aly Torline, shaping her from a kid in club leagues to collegiate athlete.

The 30-year-old “can’t say enough good things” about her experience at the California State University in San Bernardino. She was recognized as an all-American by a national coaching organization and said the relationships with her teammates and coaches helped shape her into the woman she is today.

But nearly 10 years after graduation, Torline received a notice from federal authorities. The news it delivered, she said, was “brutal.”

Aly Torline.Courtesy Aly TorlineThe Justice Department informed her that her time on the team exposed her to a data breach: A football coach from across the country whom she had never met is alleged to have used student-athletes’ personal information to access their email, cloud storage and social media accounts and download their private, intimate photos or videos.

“Thinking about what he might have or does have, and not exactly knowing, it just, it makes me feel really vulnerable,” Torline said in an interview. “I felt like a lot of what I thought was private or protected wasn’t, and maybe some of that was just, like, an illusion.”