Prime minister says the contractor's access to a customer's bank records is 'alarming'
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was "appropriate" that the two individuals, including a former EY employee, have been charged for allegedly accessing confidential Commonwealth Bank customer records, including those belonging to the prime minister.
The two people, who include a former Ernst & Young (EY) graduate employee, were charged by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) over the alleged unauthorised access of confidential records of Commonwealth Bank customers.
The AFP alleged that the breach occurred when the EY graduate employee, 21, was on secondment at the Commonwealth Bank.
The employee has since been dismissed from the firm and was charged with unauthorised access to, or modification of, restricted data, along with an additional charge tied to distributing personal information in a manner regarded as menacing or harassing.
The other individual, 25, was charged with one count of unauthorised access to restricted data. Both were granted bail and faced court on Tuesday over the breach.
"It's appropriate that charges have been laid," Albanese told ABC's News Breakfast, while refusing to go into detail because the matter was before the courts.
The prime minister, however, expressed alarm over the situation.
"This is a serious issue. Well, accessing anyone's privacy, any Australian's privacy is alarming," he said. "Let alone someone from a contractor who's not an employee...
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