Telstra discloses minor privacy gaffe
Telstra accidentally exposed the personal contact details of 18 customers due to an error in the website search function of Your Telstra Tools, the company’s online help service for enterprise and small business customers.
The operator disclosed that details of the 18 customers, including names, business names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses, had been exposed to three customers who performed a specific search on the help service.
The personal information was included in emails sent to the 18 customers to inform them of planned network interruptions. These emails were then accidentally made publicly retrievable over the online help service.
As soon as the leak was detected, Telstra disabled Your Telstra Tools while its IT security team investigated.
Telstra’s Head of Sales and Service, Michael Ackland, said in a statement that affected customers will be contacted and offered an apology.
“The privacy and security of our customers remains a priority — and we remain vigilant to keep our data and systems safe and secure,” he said.
While this data leak was far from the worst case in recent memory, Telstra’s disclosure could indicate that Australia’s new Notifiable Data Breach regulation is having the desired effect of encouraging a culture of disclosure. The next quarterly NDB report will be published imminently.
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