Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Photo: AFP / HILARY WARDHAUGH
Australian authorities are investigating a website that lists the mobile numbers of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, among other well-known Australians.
The US-based website, which users can trial for free, boasts about having the mobile numbers and emails of millions of professionals.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said the government was aware of the website and had taken steps to address the numbers being on it.
"We've notified authorities and that is being worked through, but obviously, there is concern," he said.
The story was first reported by Ette Media, whose co-founder Antoinette Lattouf also had her number published on the site.
The ABC has chosen not to name the website in order to avoid further publicising the personal data of those impacted, but has confirmed at least some of the numbers are correct.
It is not clear how long the information has been available online, but Albanese's team has been aware of the matter since last month.
A spokesperson for Ley said they were only made aware of the website yesterday after being contacted by media.
"This is obviously concerning… we have asked the website to remove the information," the spokesperson said.
NSW Premier Chris Minns, whose number has reportedly also been published, said he only became aware of the site this morning.
He said no-one was "prank calling" him yet, but it was a concern such personal data had been made public.
"We want to make sure that we're protecting that [data], but this is … the age that we live in - technology is rapidly changing," he said.
"AI means that unscrupulous players can access information like they couldn't before.
"We're all just going to have to be on guard to protect our private information, but this is one in a long line of [such incidents]."
The website says artificial intelligence is used to scan social media, job portals and other sites to collect contact details, which companies and professionals can use to their advantage.
The ABC has contacted the website for comment.
Rise of AI increases risk
University of Melbourne School of Computing and Information Systems professor Toby Murray said there was a risk individuals could be harassed as a result of their details being made public.
He said it had always been possible for someone who was well-connected to get the number of a high-profile person, but rapidly evolving technologies streamlined the collection and distribution of sensitive material.
"With the rise of AI and related technologies, it's become really easy to gather this kind of information together, where previously it might have taken hours or weeks of research," Professor Murray said.
He said everyone had a right to privacy and that it was important that individuals were able to have their information removed.
The website does offer an opt-out feature.
- ABC
