What happened
In March 2023 Latitude Financial disclosed a breach affecting around 14 million records across Australia and New Zealand — including roughly 7.9 million driver licence numbers and a large number of passport numbers and financial records [oaic-latitude]. The OAIC and the New Zealand Privacy Commissioner opened a joint investigation, a first for the two regulators [oaic-latitude].
Timeline
- 2023-03 — Latitude disclosed the breach; ~14M records across AU & NZ [oaic-latitude].
- 2023 — OAIC and NZ Privacy Commissioner announced a joint investigation [oaic-latitude].
Current status
Under joint regulatory investigation; class-action litigation has also been reported. Figures are as reported. [oaic-latitude]
Why it matters
The scale — and the volume of government identity documents — made it the largest breach on either side of the Tasman, and the trans-Tasman regulatory response set a precedent.