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.
09 December 2022 · 3 minute read

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 and Group Executive, Strategy & Finance

Michael is responsible for all our Consumer & Small Business sales and service channels. He joined Telstra in 2016 as Executive Director of Telstra Country Wide, with responsibility for over 350 retail stores and over 16,000 partners nationally. Michael joined Telstra from GE, where held the role of CEO GE Healthcare, Australia and New Zealand. In his 12 years at GE, Michael held various executive leadership roles across GE’s Australia and New Zealand business, including financial services, corporate and healthcare divisions. Prior to GE, Michael was Principal at The Boston Consulting Group, where he worked for eight years.