ACCC apologises for data breach

The ACCC has apologised for leaking the email addresses of some subscribers to its information alert services, and has warned potentially affected users to beware of potential scammers capitalising on the breach.

The consumer watchdog last Friday announced that it had become aware of a breach of personal data collected from several of its websites, specifically Recalls Australia, Product Safety Australia, SCAMwatch and the ACCC Public Registers website.

"The email addresses of some subscribers to the ACCC's information alert services were inadvertently made accessible online," last week's statement from the ACCC read.

The email addresses "were not indexed by search engines or linked from a web page on our sites. They could only be found if specific URLs were tried," the statement said.

The ACCC said it had resolved the issue and the email addresses were no longer accessible. The organisation said on Friday that it was "not yet clear" how many users had been affected, or for how long the email addresses had been accessible.

"The ACCC takes the issue of privacy, including any breaches, very seriously and apologises to affected users," the ACCC said.

The government this week posted a follow-up statement, directed at potentially affected subscribers, on its Stay Smart Online website.

"As you have subscribed to an alert on one of the affected websites, we are informing you that your email address may have been publicly available from our website if an intentional attempt was made to access it," this week's statement said.

"We sincerely apologise to you and any other affected users. The ACCC takes the issue of privacy, including any breaches, very seriously.

"Scammers may send emails purporting to be from the ACCC in attempts to gain personal or financial information. If you have any doubts about an email's source, verify the sender by independent means - use their official contact details to check the email is legitimate before clicking on links or opening attachments," the statement said.

Users who need to contact the ACCC regarding the email were directed to do so by calling the ACCC Infocentre on 1300 302 502.

The ACCC is investigating the issue and has reported the breach to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner