Telstra apologises after ACMA fine
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More news: Telstra has apologised for the data inaccuracies and processing issues that resulted in a fine from the Australian Communications and Media Authority, and noted recent breaches were proactively notified by the telco.
What they said: "We've been working to improve our systems and processes that deliver data to the IPND. This work uncovered some data inaccuracies as well as an issue that held up processing some customer requests for a copy of their IPND data. We reported these issues to ACMA and took steps to correct them," a Telstra spokesperson said in a statement.
"People's privacy and safety is paramount and we’re sorry this happened.
"We accept the ACMA's findings and have also executed an enforceable undertaking which includes appointing an independent reviewer to report on the status of our improvement work program."
Telstra fined $306k for Triple Zero data-sharing breaches
The news: Telstra has paid $306,360 for failing to provide thousands of customer details to the Integrated Public Number Database (IPND) that's used by Triple Zero to locate people in emergencies. The fine was issued by the Australian Communications and Media Authority after new breaches were found during the period of a previous investigation.
The numbers: In 2021, Telstra was fined $2.5 million for breaching obligations on more than 850,000 occasions between October 2010 and August 2022, resulting in the telco committing to an uplift program. Last year, Telstra notified ACMA the program had uncovered a further 19,000 failures over the same period.
The context: The breaches included silent numbers being incorrectly flagged for listing in directories and failures to provide customers with copies of their IPND data on time.
What they said: "The ACMA expects all telcos to have and maintain effective processes to meet these critical obligations, especially as we head into the bushfire season in Australia," ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin said in a statement.
The source: ACMA Media Release
