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Australia’s privacy and telecommunications watchdogs have launched investigations into the embattled telecommunications giant Optus to scrutinise whether it needed to keep extensive data on millions of its customers and how it was stored.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) announced co-ordinated investigations on Tuesday, after almost 10 million people had their data stolen from the country’s second-largest telecommunications company.
The OAIC has launched an investigation into Optus.Credit:Brendon Thorne
If the privacy commissioner's investigation finds serious or repeated breaches of privacy law, then she can apply to the Federal Court for penalties of up to $2.2 million per issue.
Privacy commissioner Angelene Falk said Optus had co-operated with her preliminary inquiries but that a full investigation would give her the power to compel the production of information and documents. “I’ve decided that a full investigation is warranted because Australians are entitled to know whether Optus had reasonable security safeguards in place to protect their personal information at the time of the breach,” she told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
Australian Information and Privacy Commissioner Angelene Falk.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Transparency advocates have long argued that Falk’s office is under resourced to assess freedom of information request appeals and carry out complex privacy investigations.
Falk said that she had recommended the government consider models of funding used overseas, such as the one in the United Kingdom where the regulator is paid a small fee by organisations that collect personal data, to ensure her office has the appropriate resources to regulate the digital economy.
Meanwhile, ACMA’s investigation will focus on whether Optus has complied with its obligations as a licensed telecommunications firm, including its obligations around data storage and fraud protection.
“When customers entrust their personal information to their telecommunications provider, they rightly expect that information will be properly safeguarded,” ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin said. “Failure to do this has significant consequences for all involved.”