Vodafone Is In Trouble With The ACMA For Not Checking IDs

Vodafone Is In Trouble With The ACMA For Not Checking IDs

Vodafone are copping it from the ACMA after it was found that it had failed to verify the identities of over 1000 of its new prepaid customers before activating their service.

In an ACMA investigation undertaken over twelve months between 6 January 2015 and 6 January 2016, it found that Vodafone breached its lawful obligations to verify the identity of at least 1,028 customers before activating their prepaid mobiles.

“Verifying the identity of prepaid mobile customers helps law enforcement and national security agencies obtain accurate information about the identity of customers for the purposes of their investigations”, said James Cameron, Acting Chair of the ACMA.

In a statement to Gizmodo, Vodafone had this to say about the breach:

During an upgrade to our prepaid customer activation systems over a period in 2015-2016, the system allowed a small number of customers to activate their Vodafone pre-paid services online without proper ID verification.

Vodafone has since taken steps to confirm the identity of those customers or cancel services in cases where this verification wasn’t possible, and resolve the underlying issue.

We can assure our customers that our systems and processes are robust, and we are continually working to ensure we act in accordance with the law.

We have been working closely with the ACMA to satisfy them of our ongoing compliance, and are committed to the terms of the undertaking.


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