14 DAY TRIAL // Following data breaches at Vodafone and Telstra, the Australian communications authority is questioning all telecom operators about their handling of sensitive customer information.
Back in October, Telstra accidentally misdelivered 220,000 letters, exposing people's names, phone numbers and price plans. At least 23,500 customers had unlisted (silent) lines.
Two months later, in December, Telstra Country Wide, the operator's Internet and mobile services division for regional and rural communities, inadvertently emailed the personal details of 570 subscribers to a customer announcements mailing list.
In January, Vodafone became the target of an investigation from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), after media reported that passwords for its customer management system were leaked to unauthorized individuals who misused them to access people's call history and billing information.
The Privacy Commissioner determined that Vodafone breached the National Privacy Principle (NPP) 4.1, which says that organizations must take reasonable steps to protect the personal information they collect from customers.
The Age reports that the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has contacted all top ten telecommunications providers this month to inquire about the security mechanisms used to protect customer information.
Telecom operators who were asked to reply by March 2 include Virgin Mobile, Telstra, Optus, Primus, Go Talk, iiNet, People Telecom, TPG, EDirect and Dodo.
"These providers were selected due to their prominent market positions, covering about 90 per cent of the Australian telco consumer customers," chairman and CEO of the ACMA, Chris Chapman, said.
Responding to the inquiry is not mandatory, but ACMA expects the industry to cooperate. Otherwise, Chapman said, the information can be compelled.
ACMA is already conducting a separate "reconnecting the customer" inquiry, aimed at identifying why a lot of people are frustrated with the customer service provided by many operators.