More than 500,000 QR code check addresses across Australiahave been leaked in a "massive and dangerous" data breach blamed on the NSW government.
See also: FBI: Malicious QR codes can steal your money
The system designed to help citizens during the pandemic could now endanger Australians, as the leak revealed locations of domestic violence shelters, defense sites and even a missile maintenance unit.
The list, which New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottetsaid was "uploaded in error", also included prisons, power stations and tunnel entrances.
Although the leak occurred last year, Mr. Perrottet was informed about it only on Monday.
A total of 566,318 location data collected by the NSW Department of Customer Service through the QR code system was made public via a government website.
Along with the locations of NSW, the addresses in Western Australia, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and the ACT were also included in the database, which recorded businesses or organisations that wish to comply with the guidelines for Covid-Safe protection.
See also: New phishing scam in the US: Fraudulent QR codes on parking meters
"If there was, as appears prima facie, a significant violation, then (the) appropriate state government department should be prosecuted," said attorney and civil liberties advocate Terry O'Gorman.
The leak of the locations of dozens of abused women's shelters across NSW "could be a matter of life and death", a victim support advocate has said.
"If the government actually shares this kind of information, it could have serious consequences," said Full Stop Australia CEO Hayley Foster.
Skeeve Stevens, a technology security expert, spotted the publicly available data in September and said he alerted cyber experts, who then told the NSW government.
"If the wrong people had gotten hold of it, it could have been used for bad things," he said.
See also: Puma: Victim of data breach after Kronos ransomware attack
Αν και η κυβέρνηση της Νέας Νότιας Ουαλίας είπε ότι παρέπεμψε το θέμα στον Επίτροπο Προστασίας Προσωπικών Δεδομένων τον Οκτώβριο, ο κ. Perrottet είπε ότι δεν ενημερώθηκε για αυτό που ονόμασε «πρόβλημα» με τη βάση δεδομένων μέχρι τη Δευτέρα.
