subject: Indian call centres sell off Australians' details posted: Sun, 14 Aug 2005 22:49:37 +0100
[This isn't new, fortunately in the UK the Data Protection Act makes
it illegal to export personally identifying information outside the
EU. Not that this prevents it, but it means the big banks, for
example, don't set up call centres in Asia. The article also notes
that people are asked for information they should not need to
provide, I have had this happen to me, and I just said No. - Stu]
Tens of thousands of Australians are at risk of computer fraud
because their personal information is being made available illegally
by workers inside call centres based in India.
Tonight's Four Corners program reveals a black market in information
held by Indian call centres.
The program was offered ATM numbers, passport numbers and credit card
details on thousands of Australians.
The information means hackers could assume the identity of
Australians online.
Dianne Poole, who is one of the thousands of Australians whose
details are up for sale, says the revelation leaves her feeling
vulnerable.
"I'm mortified because it leaves us fairly open, doesn't it?" she
said.
Another Australian, Keith Poole, says a call centre operator working
for Australian company Switch Mobile, asked him an unusual question.
"They asked did I have a passport. I said, 'Yes I have a passport'
but I said I wasn't prepared to give the number on that," he said.
Switch Mobile spokesman Damien Kay says passport information is not
needed.
"The issue of personal information being sold goes way outside of our
authorisation in the contracts that we have," he said.
He says Switch is devastated that privacy laws are being flouted by
its representative.
Cyber crime is described by former World Bank cyber intelligence
expert Tom Kellerman as the most pervasive crime on the planet.
"Organised crime has created a business model around hacking," he
said.
Mr Kellerman says the Internet is becoming more hostile day by day.
- The full Four Corners report can be seen on ABC TV at 8:30pm
tonight.
---
* Origin: [adminz] tech, security, support (192:168/0.2)
generated by msg2page 0.06 on Jul 21, 2006 at 19:03:43
