Former Ashley Madison user: I'm an innocent victim

A former user of a website that helps married people plan affairs has told Newsbeat he's "an innocent victim".

The Ashley Madison website has been targeted by hackers who are threatening to release customers' details if the site isn't closed down.

Ashley Madison claims to have nearly 38m anonymous users around the world.

Hackers, calling themselves The Impact Team, want the site and others like it owned by the same company to be shut down.

The group said it would leak personal details including addresses, secret conversations and naked pictures if that didn't happen.

They have already released snippets of user information, apparently chosen at random, from all three sites owned by Avid Life Media.

The Impact Team also says users who paid to have their details deleted have been misled.

The company had previously charged $19 (£12) for a "full delete" but following the hack told the BBC that it would allow people to delete their profile from the site for free with immediate effect.

One user, who wants us to call him James to protects his identity, told Newsbeat he used the site for around 10 days in February 2015.

He said he didn't speak to anyone on the site and doesn't have anything to hide but feels "very sad" for people who "could lose their marriage" if their information is leaked.

"I was actually really scared as soon as I saw the word hack," he added.

"My concerns were that my information would be in the hands of criminals.

"I just wanted a one off thing. Obviously they would be very discrete about it and I thought I would give it a go."

The hackers have called Ashley Madison users "cheating dirt bags who don't deserve any privacy".

James argued: "You can't go around hacking websites. It's wrong to share innocent people's information."

When asked if he thinks the people on the site are "innocent", James said: "They haven't hurt anyone.

"I don't see this as doing anything wrong. An adult is capable of making their own decisions. For them it's very difficult to leave their family and children behind.

"They can have their family and at the same time the desires that they might be missing."

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