The communications watchdog has put Vodafone on notice over the telco’s leaking of personal customer details earlier this year.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has ordered Vodafone to comply with the telecommunications consumer protections code (TCP code), or face penalties of up to $250,000.
But a telecommunications consumer body says the industry’s watchdog has let Vodafone off the hook.
An ACMA investigation found Vodafone had poor systems in place to protect the privacy of its customers’ personal details prior to the incident in January in which unauthorised users accessed details such as names, addresses and phone logs.
It also found the telco failed to properly classify and analyse complaints, and failed to provide timely information to its customers about network performance issues.
“These directions are intended to make sure Vodafone remains focussed on improving outcomes for its consumers by increasing the regulatory consequences of any further breach,” ACMA chairman Chris Chapman said in a statement.
If Vodafone again failed to comply with the TCP code, ACMA could approach the Federal Court seeking civil penalties of up to $250,000, he said.
Nigel Dews, chief executive of Vodafone Hutchison Australia, which operates Vodafone and 3 in Australia, said the company had already addressed the issues.
“We have supported the ACMA throughout their thorough and lengthy assessment, and while we respect the ACMA’s view of past events, we haven’t waited for their report to tell us what we’ve needed to do,” he said.
Vodafone now provided better information about network coverage, had improved its complaints handling process and strengthened its data security, Mr Dews said.
The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network criticised ACMA for “letting the provider off virtually scot-free for the widespread network (and) complaint-handling problems that plagued Vodafone customers last summer”.
It said ACMA had failed to hand out fines or sanctions for the four code breaches by Vodafone.
“These network problems impacted on millions of Vodafone customers last summer and were it not for the negative publicity generated through the media picking up on the story, Vodafone might have continued to deny there was any,” network chief executive Teresa Corbin said in a statement.
Ms Corbin said ACMA could be more effective at enforcement if it had the right tools and enough funding to monitor the compliance of service providers.
