An update for our unlisted service customers

We’re in the process of communicating to some unlisted customers whose details were incorrectly made available via Directory Assistance or the White Pages. We wanted to explain what has happened and what we’re doing to resolve it.

What’s happened and why

As part of our regulatory obligations Telstra is responsible for providing Directory Assistance services and the White Pages.

We recently discovered an error which resulted in some customers’ names, numbers and addresses being listed when they should not have been. This was a result of a misalignment of databases – no cyber activity was involved.

What we’ve done and what we’re doing

As soon as we became aware, we started work to remove the identified impacted customers from the Directory Assistance service and the online version of the White Pages.

We’re in the process of contacting every affected customer to let them know, and to offer free support through IDCARE.

We are conducting an internal investigation to better understand how it happened and to protect against it happening again.

We’re sorry for breaching your trust

Protecting our customers’ privacy is absolutely paramount, and for the customers impacted we understand this is an unacceptable breach of your trust.

We’re sorry it occurred, and we know we have let you down.

Our customer service has come a long way in recent years, including in truth-telling about our mistakes – it is part of what drives us to make change. We acknowledge that we still get it wrong too often and we simply must do better.

Update, 6 April 2023: We wanted to let you know that we’re working on a permanent fix for this issue. In the meantime, we’re continuing to contact impacted customers directly.

By Michael Ackland

Chief Financial Officer & Group Executive, Strategy & Finance

Michael Ackland was appointed Telstra’s Chief Financial Officer in 2022. With responsibility for guiding the company’s strategic and financial performance, he drives long-term value for investors. As the Group Executive for the Strategy & Finance function, Michael leads strategy, internal audit, finance, procurement, treasury, taxation and investor relations teams. He is also a Director on the Boards of Telstra Health (Chair), Quantium Telstra and Digicel Pacific (Chair).