How is my personal information and privacy protected?

  • When using the registered service address of my landline or mobile telephone

The Integrated Public Number Database (IPND) is a telecommunications industry-wide collection of all listed and unlisted public telephone numbers. This information is governed by strict privacy laws that control how the database can be accessed and used.

A legislative amendment to the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Commonwealth) was required to enable access to this information for emergency warning purposes. This amendment imposes ongoing controls against potential misuse of sensitive personal information taken from the IPND.

A separate database, the Location Based Number Store (LBNS), uses information from the IPND so that it can maintain a collection of telephone numbers and addresses that can be located on a map and be used for delivering alerts to a particular area. The LBNS never receives any names of individuals or businesses in the information it receives from the IPND. When operating Emergency Alert, States or Territories do not have access to customer name details for any telephone number.

  • When using the location of my mobile telephone

The emergency service organisations do not have access to telephone numbers when sending a warning message through the Emergency Alert system. In addition, information on telephone locations is not retained.

A legislative amendment to the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Commonwealth) was required to enable access to this information for emergency warning purposes. This amendment imposes ongoing controls against potential misuse of sensitive personal information taken from the Integrated Public Number Database (telecommunications industry-wide collection of all listed and unlisted public telephone numbers).