Private emails of Australians stranded in overseas countries unintentionally revealed by DFAT

The private email addresses of Australians stranded overseas during the covid-19 pandemic have been unintentionally revealed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). A DFAT spokesperson issued an apology on behalf of the government agency tonight for the data breach. A tweet posted by the DFAT account said, We apologise for unintentionally disclosing email addresses of stranded Australians we're trying to help get home.

The department contacted Australians offering them interest-free loans if they had been financially hurt by delays caused by the cap on citizens returning to Australia. Some Australians in the northern hemisphere woke up to the email on Wednesday morning. The department attempted to recall the email six minutes after it was sent, but some recipients had already downloaded it. DFAT sent an email to the same group about three hours later apologising for the mistake and asking recipients to immediately delete the correspondence.