14 DAY TRIAL // Telstra, the bigest telecommunications services provider in Australia, has misdelivered over two hundred thousand letters containing customer names and telephone numbers.
The mail out was intended to inform customers about upcoming changes to the fixed line prices, but around 220,000 letters out of 2.3 million, ended up being delivered to the wrong recipients.
Some customers received multiple letters, while others received the wrong one. In addition to names and phone numbers, the notifications also exposed customer price plans.
Fortunately, no billing or call records were compromised as a result of the incident. However, 23,500 customers had silent lines (unlisted numbers).
"Telstra is taking this issue very seriously. An urgent and thorough investigation is underway to examine how this occurred and to stop it happening again.
"The company is directly contacting affected customers to apologise for the error," Telstra said in an announcement posted on its website.
The company advises customers, who received bogus letters, to destroy them or return them to sender.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and the Australian Privacy Commissioner's Office have been notified of the breach and launched a joint investigation.
"The ACMA’s main priority initially is to limit the damage to consumers caught up in this mail out and where possible to ensure remedies are quickly implemented," said ACMA Chairman, Chris Chapman.
"While I welcome Telstra’s prompt advice that this incident occurred and that it has taken steps to contact affected customers, I am concerned about the amount of personal information that has been disclosed which includes potentially sensitive information such as silent numbers," commented the Australian Privacy Commissioner Mr. Timothy Pilgrim.
The two authorities are also working with the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN), an organization representing the interests of consumers in telecommunications, broadband and emerging services issues.