On the 10th of May the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) announced that they had commenced a joint investigation with the New Zealand Office of Privacy Commissioner (OPC) into the personal information handling practices of the Latitude group of companies.
Back in March 2023, Latitude Financial, under the Latitude group of companies, had released a statement stating that they had detected ‘unusual activity’ over its systems over the ‘last few days’ which originated from a major vendor used by the organisation. It raised awareness to issues within the privacy space regarding businesses not taking reasonable precaution to protect consumer data.
The current joint investigation with the OAIC and OPC will investigate whether Latitude had taken reasonable steps to protect the personal information the held. This investigation could lead to serious financial penalties for the organisation.
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Control and secure your personal information with DataBench
In light of the increasing security threat and breaches faced by Australian businesses, it is crucial to address the recurring issues within this space.
A persistent issue that businesses currently face is the response time to data security threats. When unusual activity is suspected it is often that it has already been occurring a few days before detection. By the time it reaches the necessary people that can take action, damage has already been done.
Additionally, incidents like the Latitude Financial breach highlight the importance of maintaining a secure chain of security. Businesses must make themselves aware of the importance of a strong and secure chain of security especially when dealing with 3rd party vendors.
At DataBench we want to streamline your data security process so you can safeguard your customers personal and sensitive information. We offer to conduct data privacy and security assessments so you can formulate a security profile for each of your vendors.
Contact us today at admin@databench.com.au or book a demo with us to learn more about our leading solutions.