Australian University Privacy Incident, 1 August 2022

Student details, photos exposed in University of Western Australia data breach

The privacy breach that may have compromised the information of hundreds of current and past students

Source: Student details, photos exposed in University of WA data breach | iTnews

Related incidents from University of Western Australia and the Education and Training sector.

Hundreds of former students and staff members of Western Australia’s top university have had their most private data stolen, including grade transcripts, photos and address details. Emergency contact details were also exposed, potentially extending the impact of the data breach beyond current and present students. The university said no credit card details, tax file numbers, medical records, passports or bank information were stored in the system.

The school’s notable alumni includes former prime minister Bob Hawke, Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, Canva co-founder Melanie Perkins, Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash, Resources Minister Madeleine King, former WA Governor and Labor leader Kim Beazley and former Indonesian Vice President, Boediono.

Those impacted were alerted by Vice-Chancellor Professor Amit Chakma late last week.

“The university is currently investigating this data breach and unauthorised access. The incident has also been reported to the Western Australian Police for investigation.”

“The data that has been accessed is student information held in Callista and not other current information held in other UWA systems, including our alumni database. It includes names, student IDs and images, date of birth and contact details as well as course details and unit grades of current and former students. No credit card details, tax file numbers, bank information or medical records are included in Callista,” Professor Chakma said.

It’s the second large scale data breach of WA’s only sandstone university in a number of years.