PM Malcolm Turnbull called it ‘an extraordinary blunder’
Following an exposé from BuzzFeed News, Australia’s Commonwealth Bank (CBA) has finally broken its silence and admitted that it has lost data of around 19m accounts —- including customer names, addresses, account numbers and transaction details — covering a period from 2000 to early 2016.
Following the announcement, which the bank made in a YouTube video, the nation’s PM Malcolm Turnbull called it “an extraordinary blunder”.
“It’s hard to imagine how so much data could be lost in this way. If that had happened today, the bank would have to advise each of their customers,” Turnbull added.
The data was reportedly stored on two magnetic tapes that were due to be destroyed by a third-party contractor. The CBA admitted once it discovered the historical customer statements may have gone missing, it began an internal investigation but nothing was found. It eventually determined the data had likely been destroyed, as it had been planning to do.
No official documentation on the destruction of these tapes was ever produced and, as such, their whereabouts are still unaccounted for, media reports suggest.
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