Report on the privacy impacts of Greater Western Water’s migration to a new billing and payment system
In May 2024, Greater Western Water launched a new billing and payment system. From the outset, the new system was troubled by a range of technical issues, which resulted in hundreds of privacy breaches. The main privacy concerns relate to personal information being disclosed to third parties due to issues such as bills being delivered to the wrong address, or addressed to the wrong person.
The Privacy and Data Protection Deputy Commissioner conducted preliminary inquiries into this matter to gather information about the cause and extent of the privacy impacts on its customers. While the Deputy Commissioner did not launch a formal investigation, she nevertheless decided that there was a public interest in publishing a brief report on this matter.
The report outlines some important lessons for all organisations undertaking system migration or integration projects.
