Court transcripts containing “incredibly sensitive” data were accessed by an Indian tech firm in what the Greens have labelled a “national security risk”, according to a report.
VIQ Solutions, a Canada-based company that provides transcription services to courts and tribunals across Australia, had subcontracted some work to e24 Technologies, a tech company based in India, ABC News reported.
This was in breach of the company’s Commonwealth contract, according to the report, and saw sensitive data, including information on potential covert agents and witness statements, sent offshore.
The ABC report cites internal company documents that show thousands of court files were accessed by e24 workers with Indian email addresses, and VIQ employees who reported concerns about the court data being accessed “unvetted overseas staff”.
‘Incredibly sensitive evidence’
VIQ Solutions provides transcription services for Australian family and federal courts; the South Australian Employment Tribunal; courts and tribunals in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia; and Federal Circuit and Family Court.
Workers for the company said they had to complete a national security check and Commonwealth Courts Deed of Confidentiality before working on the court transcripts, according to the report
The Chennai-based e24 specialises in automated voice-to-text technology.
The ABC News report references a job advertisement placed by the company for workers to transcribe legal documents.
It said that applicants needed to be proficient in “Australian English” and could be based remotely.
A number of VIQ staff said that e24 workers were accessing court data outside of Australian business hours and completing transcripts quicker than a human can, and with many mistakes.
Greens Senator David Shoebridge said he had been in contact with “multiple” whistleblowers about the issue, and that it was a “national security risk” that a foreign entity was given access to court data.
“Incredibly sensitive evidence from organisations like ASIO, the Australian Federal Police, is given in private court because it could be addressing links to international criminal organisations, potential foreign interference in the country,” Shoebridge told ABC News.
This information falling into the wrong hands could do “incredible damage”, Shoebridge said.
“Not just to the national interest, but potentially to undercover police officers and members of the public in Australia.”
‘Strict standards’
In a statement provided to the ABC, VIQ chief executive Larry Taylor said the company has “strict standards” for its contractors.
“[This ensures] we protect the privacy, confidentiality and security of sensitive customer data, such as court recordings,” Taylor said in the statement.
“When VIQ contracts work to companies like e24, they are required to adhere to the same strict privacy guidelines, service delivery standards and confidentiality as all employees.
“All customer data is stored in Australia in accordance with the Privacy Act…for Australian clients.”
Shoebridge said that VIQ Solutions’ court transcriptions contract should be scrapped.
“If that’s not grounds to urgently terminate this contract and bring back this important public service into public hands, away from a failed privatisation, I don’t know what is,” he said.
One VIQ Solutions contractor told the ABC that many staff at the company were concerned that workers overseas were accessing the court data.
“I began having anxiety attacks about what repercussions might follow for real human lives if highly sensitive matters were accessed by unvetted overseas staff,” the contractor said.
“I was worried about how much the protocols of the Australian Border Force and police, and identities of witnesses and covert operatives, could be sold for by anonymous overseas individuals.”
Last year a 38-year-old man was charged by police over a major data breach that saw nearly 9,000 sensitive NSW court documents accessed.
The breach was believed to have exposed documents including apprehended violence orders and details of minors held within a website operated by the NSW Department of Communities and Justice.
