Australian Gov't Loses Privacy Alert Subscription Information In the Mail 33
Posted
by
timothy
from the this-is-a-data-breach dept.
from the this-is-a-data-breach dept.
First time accepted submitter darinfp writes "As an Australian, I'd like to announce a new definition of the word 'Irony.' A government contractor put a list of users and details in the mail and it was lost. The list contained users subscribed to the government's privacy breach alert system."
Let's get it started (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3)
Let me guess, you're American...
To be fair, we Americans have an understanding of irony that is limited to the situations included in the Alanis Morissette song. If some of the people on the list that was lost were recent lotto winners and plane crash victims, or had they recently quick smoking, or had their wedding been rained upon then we might consider it irony, but only if we've heard the song recently enough to remember it.
Re:Let's get it started (Score:4, Insightful)
I'd say it's a pretty good example of irony, from wikipedia "A situation is often said to be ironic (situational irony) if the actions taken have an effect exactly opposite from what was intended [wikipedia.org]".
People were concerned about their privacy so they subscribed to a breach notification list, instead they had their privacy potentially violated as a result of the list that was supposed to notify them.
I suppose a better irony would be if they were subscribers to some sort of breach avoidance system but it's still a pretty ironic situation.
Australia is in the antipodes (Score:5, Funny)
The antipodes is a strange region of the Earth where everything is opposite: up is down, left is right, day is night, and most alarmingly, the water flushes down the toilet in the wrong direction. For this reason, you need to be very careful when trying to understand what an Australian is saying. Don't worry about people from New Zealand, they only talk to sheep.
So first:
"As an Australian, I'd like to announce a new definition of the 'Irony.'"
What this means is that we have a new definition of common sense. However, I am a little confused, because the person says "As an Australian." Australians usually indicate they are Australian by saying "I am not Australian."
Second:
"A government contractor put a list of users and details in the mail and it was lost. The list contained users subscribed to the government's privacy breach alert system."
Now, here in the Northern Hemisphere, this doesn't make any sense. But again, being as this happened in the antipodes, this is just common practical policy.
So this is a bit of a nonstory here. Which I am saying in the Northern Hemisphere sense, and not in the antipodean sense, where calling something a nonstory would indicate that this is really a notable story.
Re: (Score:3)
Anyway it's what happens with these silly lists. Our "do not call" list ended up being a contact list for a thinly disguised marketing scheme. That's what happens with opt out systems, the people on the list because they don't want to be bothered are the ones that end up being bothered by fools that think they are too important to listen to anyone telling them to go away.
Re: (Score:1)
Don't forget the drop bears.
Re: (Score:2)
What this means is that we have a new definition of common sense. However, I am a little confused, because the person says "As an Australian." Australians usually indicate they are Australian by saying "I am not Australian."
So you're saying his "As an Australian" comment was ironic when compared to the traditional response? <Vinne Barbarino>I'm so confused.</Vinne Barbarino>
Re: (Score:1)
Pedantic note: in Australia we have a different flushing mechanism than in the US, so the water in our toilets circles neither clockwise nor counter-clockwise.
Actually the irony is ... (Score:4, Informative)
Actually the irony is that the contractor is in fact AusCERT [auscert.org.au] who claim to be :-
AusCERT operates within a worldwide network of information security experts to provide computer incident prevention, response and mitigation strategies for members and assistance to affected parties in Australia.
Re: (Score:2)
Can we make circles of irony? Or would it just collapse in on itself.
Re: (Score:3)
Someone else from Brisbane I presume?
Re: (Score:2)
No - he didn't mention yellow bicycles.
Re: (Score:2)
Was it the Can Do (aka Canned Poo) attitude that gave it away?
In the mail? (Score:3, Insightful)
Why were they taking information, which they have electronically, and putting it on a physical medium where it loses its usability, presumably so someone could use it. And they used regular mail? Seriously? Is this April fools or something, this is just too much fail to be real.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Why were they taking information, which they have electronically, and putting it on a physical medium where it loses its usability, presumably so someone could use it.
Perhaps, that DVD was for archival, or legal purposes.
Anyway, the real error here was not having the entire thing encrypted.
Ah, she'll be right! (Score:1)
legally protect, unlike digital networks (Score:3, Insightful)
atleast the packet has legal protection
in australia, the government owned physical packet switching network known as 'australia post' has huge legal protection over every single packet switchted through the network, unlike digital networks. even retaining the header (sender/reciever) data is illegal, and any deep packet inspection will be met with the full force of the federal police. so from a legal perspective the data is a lot safer in post than in your email inbox
Re: (Score:3)
That's assuming the DVD was indeed lost in the mail.
All that we know for sure is that the chain of custody was broken and that the data lost -- was mostly left unencrypted. For all we know, the DVD could have been, lost/stolen/social engineered from the receiving government agency, or lost/stolen/social engineered from the sending government contractor.
By telling us that the data was lost in the mail, they've fulfilled their strictest minimum legal obligation to publicize that there was indeed a breach. Now
Re: (Score:1)
Identity protection? (Score:2)