A $9,200 fine has been imposed on Australia's largest telecommunications company, Telstra, for leaking the personal information of 15,775 customers online last year.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) conducted an investigation into the incident, finding that the company breached privacy law by failing to successfully protect its customers' data.
The breach was discovered in May 2013. It turned out that Telstra had been exposing the names, phone numbers and addresses of thousands of customers online for more than a year. After an investigation, it was found that the records of the affected customers had been downloaded at least 166 times.
The telecommunications company was also found guilty of violating the National Personal Data Protection Authority, as it had not taken the necessary measures to secure customers' personal information.
