One.Tel drop bad debtors: Privacy commissioner

Failed telecommunication company One.Tel has been slapped on the wrist by the Federal Privacy Commissioner for mishandling customer credit records.

One.Tel in Liquidation has had 65,000 customer default listings dropped from credit records after the Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner discovered the telco did not have systems in place to update customer credit listings once a debt had been paid.

This meant that those customers that applied for a credit card could be rejected because of their credit history.

Credit information provider and reporting organisation Baycorp Advantage removed the 65,000 records in response to the Privacy Commissioner's warning that the One.Tel records could be inaccurate.

Baycorp Advantage performed an analysis of its credit record statistics which showed that in comparison to other credit providers only a relatively small number of One.Tel listings had been updated.

"Inaccurate credit records can stop people getting access to credit. It is therefore essential that credit providers have systems to ensure the accuracy of any default listings they make," said Federal Privacy Commissioner Karen Curtis in a statement.

"Businesses that do not have such systems or the information necessary to ensure the accuracy of their records run the risk that they too could have default listing removed from credit records," Curtis added.

Baycorp Advantage has made the decision to send updated credit information files free of charge to any individual who has obtained a copy of their personal file in the last three months and whose file has been affected by this change.

Baycorp Advantage has also cancelled One.Tel in Liquidation's access to its credit reporting services.