Australian PM's phone number leaked on US-based website

Australian authorities are investigating an incident in which the private phone number of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was published on a US-based website.

According to an Australian Associated Press (AAP) report, the website, which claims to give clients access to 300 million professionals from 30 million companies, says that information is scraped from public internet pages, like LinkedIn.

An Australian Federal Police (AFP) spokesperson told China Daily that the agency "is aware the private contact details of some Parliamentarians are available online through overseas businesses".

"The AFP is formally seeking for the Prime Minister's personal contact details to be removed from these sites," the spokesperson said.

"Relevant agencies are undertaking a range of mitigation measures and strategies to address this matter with a range of partners and the businesses who have the information on their sites with regard to all affected parliamentarians," AFP added.

Acting Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles confirmed that the government is aware of the information leak and will work to address it.

"We've notified authorities, and that is being worked through. But obviously, there is concern," he told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.

According to Australian media reports, in addition to Albanese, the phone numbers of several other prominent Australians have also been made public, and at least some of those have been confirmed as accurate.

A spokesperson for Australia's Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said they were only made aware of the breach after being contacted by the media.

"This is obviously concerning … we have asked the website to remove the information," the spokesperson said in a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

New South Wales state Premier Chris Minns, said no-one was "prank calling" him yet, but it was a concern that such personal data had been made public.

"We want to make sure that we're protecting that (data), but this is the age that we live in — technology is rapidly changing," he was quoted as saying by the ABC.

The information leak has sparked public discussion over personal online data privacy in Australia.

Digital Rights Watch chair Lizzie O'Shea said it should be made harder to transfer personal information outside of Australia. The organization is a charitable group that advocates for the protection of Australians' digital rights.

"It's common for Australians to be reliant on US tech companies for services, but that doesn't limit lawmakers from regulating the use of our personal information," AAP quoted O'Shea's statement as saying.

"In Australia, it is an offence to use a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence," the AFP spokesperson noted.

"The AFP will take swift action against individuals who breach the law," the spokesperson told China Daily.

Agencies contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at xinxin@chinadaily.com.cn