The immigration minister, Scott Morrison, has made a number of statements about the data breach that exposed asylum seekers’ personal details. Here, I have checked some of the comments made against how the data was actually exposed, without specifying the exact methods involved.



... nor was it in an easily accessible format within the public domain.”

Morrison media statement, 19 February

The information was not immediately obvious, but it was easily accessible using software installed on most computers. It required only three clicks to expose the underlying data. After our report and Morrison’s comments identifying the specific document, Guardian Australia was contacted by readers who had worked out how it was possible to access it.



David Speers: How long was the information on the website?’ Morrison: It was only on there for a few days ... It was linked to that document and that was posted earlier this month and was there for a matter of days.

Interview on Sky News, 19 February

Morrison’s own press release says the document was published on the department website on 11 February, and was removed yesterday, 19 February. This is slightly over a week.

I am advised the department has ensured all possible channels to access this information are closed, including Google and other search engines.

Morrison media statement, 19 February

The information was included in a file published by the Department of Immigration that required downloading to view, and was available for more than a week. An unknown amount of copies are therefore in existence in an unknown number of locations. The department has not responded to our questions about how many people downloaded the file.



The associated data is, however, no longer accessible to download, either directly or via Google’s cache, as far as we’re able to tell.



My department will also be requesting that the media organisation that published this data advise if they have disseminated the information to any other parties and to return all copies of the information to the department. Morrison media statement, 19 February

At no point did Guardian Australia publish the data.

