Dai Le (Fowler, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the recent data breach that has affected Optus and nearly 10 million Australians. Passports, drivers licences, birth dates and addresses have all been compromised. To make matters worse, many Optus customers have been left in the dark, not knowing what's happening with their data.

I have written to the CEO of Optus, calling on her to allow any distressed customers to exit their contracts without facing penalties and to provide support to those Optus storefronts weathering the brunt of public scrutiny as they are inundated with frantic calls from customers. In places like Fowler, these hardworking individuals are the face of the Optus brand and they do not deserve to be penalised.

The Minister for Home Affairs has herself noted that Optus left itself open to a basic breach. Given the sheer volume of data that corporations expect to take freely from customers and store for as long as they wish, such poor approaches to security infrastructure are unacceptable.

Many Australians signed up to Optus or to other carriers with the expectation that their telecommunications are secure and reliable. Therefore, the carriers must respect their customers' desire to exit their contracts when trust is lost.

The common practice around the globe is to take a tough stand on companies taking data security lightly. Australia must follow suit. I hope this major breach will force big corporations to tighten their security measures or face losing customers.