Deborah Knight has reported “a major stuff-up” by life insurer TAL which saw members’ private details leaked.

A listener tipped Deborah off to the breach, which saw an email with attached private information – including names, dates of birth, addresses, policy details and account numbers – sent to an unknown third party.

TAL has confirmed the breach, and in a statement to Afternoons with Deborah Knight say affected customers have been contacted by mail, and had extra security measures added to their account.

“TAL deeply regrets this incident, which was a result of human error, and we understand the distress this will have caused to our customers affected.” (full statement below)

Concerned customers can contact TAL directly on 1300 209 088.

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Full statement from a TAL spokesperson:

“We can confirm that we have contacted a number of customers in relation to an email containing certain personal details, which was incorrectly sent to a third-party email address.

“TAL deeply regrets this incident, which was a result of human error, and we understand the distress this will have caused to our customers affected.

“TAL has attempted to contact the recipient and requested that they delete the email immediately, and to date no response has been received to confirm whether they have opened or deleted the email.

“TAL also contacted Google for further assistance. Google has advised that, due to privacy reasons, they are unable to assist us in this matter or confirm if the specific email address is active.

“Upon identifying the incident, TAL immediately commenced a full investigation and we have reported this incident to the Office of the Information Commissioner (the Privacy Commissioner).

“All impacted customers have had additional security measures added to their customer profile to ensure that only they will be able to access their own policy information, and additional steps have been taken within our processes and IT systems to mitigate the risk of any similar issue occurring in the future.

“TAL has written to affected customers providing them with information and other links on steps they can take to reduce any risks associated with incidents of this type, and we have committed to keeping those customers informed on any further developments.

“We are deeply sorry to our customers affected by this incident, and wish to assure them that the incident was isolated and that the protection of customer information remains a top priority for TAL.”

Image: TAL, Getty