Circles.Life is the latest telco to pay the price for failing to do one of the many things it’s gotta do under Aussie law. That thing was provide customer information to the Integrated Public Number Database (IPND), and according to the ACMA, Circles.Life failed to do this on more than 60,000 occasions.
Per a statement from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), Circles Australia Pty Limited (trading as Circles.Life) has paid a $253,080 infringement notice after it was found there was large-scale breaches of the rules that are intended to protect the safety of Australians.
The ACMA said Circles.Life failed to provide customer information to the IPND on more than 60,000 occasions between January and August 2022.
The IPND is a record of most Australian phone numbers and owner details, including customer name, service type and address. It has listed and unlisted phone numbers. Telcos are legally required to send a Public Number Customer Data record to the IPND for each service they provide using a public number. The IPND is used by Triple Zero to help locate people in an emergency, for the Emergency Alert Service to warn of emergencies like flood or bushfire and to assist law enforcement activities.
All telcos are required to upload customer details to the IPND for each service they provide under the Telecommunications Act and the IPND industry code.
The ACMA investigation found that Circles.Life’s IT systems had an error that prevented its IPND data files from uploading. The ACMA also found that the company did not conduct the required regular checks of its IPND data that would have alerted it that something was amiss over an extended period, so IT failure isn’t going to sit as an excuse.
ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin said Circles.Life’s failure to upload customer information to the secure database potentially put its customers’ safety at risk.
“It is alarming that Circles.Life had no idea that its customer information was not being uploaded until contacted by the ACMA,” O’Loughlin said.
In response to the ACMA announcement, Circles.Life said it was working with the ACMA on fixing its processes.
“The safety of our customers remains our number one priority and we have a commitment to working with the ACMA to ensure that we are compliant with providing customer information to the IPND,” a spokesperson said.
“While we have an ongoing priority relationship with both law enforcement and emergency services (who reach out to us directly when they need our support) we acknowledge the importance of the IPND in keeping all Australians safe.
“We can confirm that not only did we rectify the issue within weeks, we have taken steps to ensure that Circles is never in a situation like this again, including the appointment of an external auditor at our expense and direction. We acknowledge that while the IPND system isn’t perfect, we are committed to working with ACMA and other telcos to make it better, for the benefit of all Australians”
It’s not just Circles.Life, however – in the last year, we’ve reported Lycamobile being fined $186,480 and Aussie Broadband paying $213,120 for respectively breaching IPND rules. Since 2018, the ACMA has taken action against 31 telcos for non-compliance with the IPND rules, including giving remedial directions and nearly $4 million in penalties.
This article has been updated since it was first published.