The Prime Minister wants Optus to pay for passport replacements

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has entered the chat on the latest Optus data breach developments. The PM took to Parliament to state that the telco should pay for victims to obtain new passports.

This is just one of the latest updates in the Optus saga, including the revelation that up to 37,000 Medicare numbers were also involved in the breach. Optus didn’t originally announce Medicare details as part of the leaked information, but confirmed it on Wednesday night.

“Of the 9.8 million customer records exposed, we have identified 14,900 valid Medicare ID numbers that have not expired,” Optus said in a statement.

“There are a further 22,000 expired Medicare card numbers exposed.”

Both sides of the aisle think new passports for Optus data breach victims should be free

Australian states and territories have been scrambling to announce free licence renewals for victims of the data breach this week. But the Australian Passport Office has remained steadfast, stating on its website that replacements will need to be paid for in full.

There is an entire page dedicated to the Optus data breach offering FAQs as well as assurances that Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) systems weren’t compromised.

“This is a personal decision for you to make. If you feel concerned about your current passport, you can renew it at any time in the usual way,” the passports website reads.

“If you choose to replace your passport, you’ll have to pay the application fee when you lodge your application.”

Albanese has now said the cost should fall on the shoulders of Optus, stating that there need to be more consequences for companies that don’t adequately secure its customer data.

“Clearly, we need better national laws after a decade of inaction to manage the immense amount of data collected by companies about Australians,” he said in Parliament.

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong has also said the government was looking at removing passport fees.

Additionally, members of the LNP have been insisting that new passports should be free for victims of the Optus data breach.

“I think that Optus should be responsible,” Shadow Minister for Home Affairs Karen Andrews said in a press conference on Wednesday.

“I don’t see that there is a chance at all that people should be required to have to pay for these things themselves. Their data has been compromised. In the first instance, the current federal government can deal with those issues, and they should have been already negotiating with Optus on those key compromises.”

It will be interesting to see how much this costs Optus if it goes ahead, especially with some state governments calling upon Optus to pay for free licence renewals for customers caught up in the breach.

The telco is also shelling out for credit monitoring services for impacted victims from Equifax — a company which had the personal information of up to 143 million Americans hacked back in 2017.

When asked if accepting the Equifax subscription would waive customer rights to take further action against Optus, the telco declined to comment.

“Unfortunately we have no further comment to provide in addition to what we’ve already given you on Equifax,” an Optus spokesperson said in an email to SmartCompany.