The Australian government admitted Wednesday it accidentally published the personal details of 10,000 detained asylum seekers in a major privacy breach which refugee advocates said could put lives at risk.
The immigration department was alerted to the error on its website by The Guardian, whose Australian edition reported that the vast database contained full names, nationalities, location and boat arrival information.
It said every person currently held in a mainland detention facility and on Christmas Island was identified, as well as several thousand living in the community under the community detention programme.
The Labor opposition called it “one of the most significant breaches of privacy in Australian government history” and the department admitted the information was never intended to be in the public domain.
“The department acknowledges that the file was vulnerable to unauthorised access,” it said in a statement.
“The file has been removed and the department is investigating how this occurred to ensure that it does not happen again.”
The Refugee Council of Australia said the breach raised fears that those identified could be at risk of retribution if they were returned to their countries of origin, while family members still in their home nations could face harassment.
“It is unbelievable that a breach of this kind could happen. The information is highly confidential for a reason,” the council’s chief executive Paul Power told AFP.
“There could be implications, not just for people in detention but also family members in the country of origin.”
He said the ramifications for people who failed in their asylum bid and were returned could be “huge”, with some countries punishing those who fled.
“It runs the risk of putting lives in danger,” said Power, while calling for a full explanation of how it happened.
The breach is an embarrassing blow to the conservative government, whose hardline policies to combat people-smuggling and deter asylum-seekers have been shrouded in secrecy.
Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said it was an “unacceptable incident”, with the information in the public domain “for a few days”.
“I am advised the department has ensured all possible channels to access this information are closed, including Google and other search engines,” he said.
“It appears the personal information underlying the report cannot be accessed through search engines.”
He added that he would be asking The Guardian to destroy the information.
Labor immigration spokesman Richard Marles said it was a major blunder by the government.
“This appears to be one of the most significant breaches of privacy in Australian government history,” he said.
“It (the government) can’t determine what should be made public and what should be kept private,” he added, in reference to Morrison’s insistence on the need for secrecy when it comes to asylum-seekers and border protection.
