Australia introduces privacy rule changes after Optus data breach

Optus, a telecommunications company faced a data breach which affected 10 million customers

Australia has proposed an overhaul of its consumer privacy rules that will help facilitate targeted data sharing between banks and telecommunication firms. The move comes in the light of a massive data breach at Optus, which is the country’s second largest mobile operator. Optus, a telecommunications company faced a data breach which affected 10 million customers earlier last month. The changes in privacy rules will enable the telcos share government-issued identification documents with banks to implement enhanced monitoring for customers impacted by data breaches.

During a media conference treasurer Jim Chalmers said “They've been carefully designed with strong privacy and security safeguards to ensure that only limited information can be made available temporarily to respond and prevent to cyber security fraud, scams, incidents and related activities.” The proposed changes will also allow for increased fraud detection in the broader financial services sector through existing industry mechanisms to report fraudulent transactions, such as fraud information exchanges. The government would not disclose details of financial institutions that receive the data from Optus due to data security reasons said Chalmers.