Investigation finds no evidence of misuse
of telephone number database
The Australian Communications Authority (ACA) has found no evidence of
misuse of data from the Integrated Public Number Database (IPND) during
the 2004 federal election campaign.
The ACA has been investigating a complaint by the Australian Labor Party
about telemarketing activities by the Liberal Party of Australia during
the campaign.
The ACA’s investigation focused on whether the Liberal Party’s
telemarketing activities improperly used data from the IPND.
“Our investigation found that the phone numbers were obtained from
publicly available databases,” ACA Acting Chairman Dr Bob Horton
said today. “These databases can include numbers that in the past
were listed numbers, but have since become unlisted, as well as information
from other sources.
“However, the ACA has asked the Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner
to review the complaint because there may be other matters within its
jurisdiction.”
Dr Horton said the ACA’s jurisdiction was limited to the use and
disclosure of personal information under Part 13 of the Telecommunications
Act 1997. This information is contained in the IPND.
“Part 13 of the Act prohibits the disclosure of personal information
by carriage service providers,” he said. “There are exceptions
for law enforcement purposes, emergency services and the publication of
public number directories, provided that silent or unlisted numbers are
not disclosed.”
The IPND is a national database of information about all customers of
telecommunications services in Australia, including silent or unlisted
numbers.
Data records in the IPND contain personal information about telecommunications
residential and business customers of fixed line and mobile telephone
services. The IPND is managed by Telstra under a carrier licence condition.
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