In a new post on the Telstra Exchange blog, the telco seems to have caused itself a lot of problems with the whole “we spied on your Next G browsing history for product research” thing.
Telstra has been drenched in very legitimate concerns about how the information the telco gleaned from monitoring customer web histories was passed to a US data provider.
Telstra has responded with a very in-depth FAQ post, and assured the public that it’s met with just about every privacy group and authority in the country over the last two days to explain itself.
In response to your concerns, we’ve talked about this process with the Privacy Commissioner, the Australian Communication and Media Authority, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network as well as talking to our community through this forum and one on one with individual customers. We are committed to being transparent about how we use the personal information customers entrust to us, and we apologise for any confusion or concern this has caused – we’ll keep working with you to clarify any further points of concern you might raise.
That’s a lot of Christmas card lists Telstra’s now off.
We’re still yet to find out if the Privacy Commissioner will open an investigation. We’ll keep you posted. [Telstra Exchange]