Australian communications company Telstra Corp. said a “misalignment of databases” caused the details of some customers to be released publicly.
(Bloomberg) — Australian communications company Telstra Corp.
said a “misalignment of databases” caused the details of some customers to be released publicly.
The names, phone numbers and addresses of some customers who had requested to be unlisted became available online and via directory assistance, the Melbourne-based company said in a blog post.
About 130,000 customers were affected, the Age reported without saying where it got the information
“We recently discovered there had been a misalignment of the databases used to provide these services, which resulted in some customers’ names, numbers and addresses being listed when they should not have been,” Chief Financial Officer Michael Ackland said in the blog post.
“This was a result of a misalignment of databases — no cyber activity was involved.”
Last month, Telstra called for a review of laws governing data retention after scams targeting customers reached new highs and a leak of years of information about its employees.
In October, its main rival Optus, which is owned by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., revealed a vast hack of the records of almost 10 million current and former customers.
Ackland apologized and said Telstra has started work to remove the details, as well as to contact every affected customer to let them know.
An internal investigation will be conducted.
“Protecting our customers’ privacy is absolutely paramount, and for the customers impacted we understand this is an unacceptable breach of your trust,” he said.
“We’re sorry it occurred, and we know we have let you down.”
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
