In a finding released today, the ACMA says the company inadvertently removed the silent number classification from the records of 3,854 of its silent line customers when uploading data to the Integrated Public Number Database (IPND).



Southern’s customers’ telephone numbers and associated name and address details were published in three Australia-wide online public number directories between 18 March 2014 and 24 July last year.



And, in addition, some of the affected customers also had their service details published in various regional hard copy directories.





ACMA says that the company notified all affected customers of the incident and offered customers the option of a new telephone number free of charge.ACMA found that the error was in contravention of clause 4.6.3 of the Telecommunications Consumer Protection Code, clause 5.12 of the IPND Industry Code; and subsection 101(1) of the Telecommunications Act 1997.The authority has now directed SPC to comply with the privacy clauses of the TCP Code and accepted an enforceable undertaking offered by the company.ACMA chairman Chris Chapman said failure by a telco provider to honour a customer’s request for a silent number “is an issue that the ACMA takes very seriously, particularly given that such requests often arise from concerns over personal safety.”Chapman said the Enforceable Undertaking commits SPC to upgrade its data collection, engage an independent auditor to review its processes, instigate a comprehensive education and training program, and comprehensively report to the ACMA.ACMA says failure to meet the EU exposes SPC to Federal Court action, and it will closely monitor SPC’s compliance with the EU and direction.The authority says that SPC has fully cooperated with the ACMA during the investigation and acknowledged that the ACMA had reasonable grounds to make its findings.