The private phone numbers of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Donald Trump Jr, son of US President Donald Trump, have been made public on a US-based website, prompting a federal investigation.
The website, operated by a data intelligence company, also listed the numbers of Australian opposition leader Sussan Ley, former prime minister Scott Morrison, and former foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop. The company claims to use AI to scrape contact details from social media, job portals, and other platforms, offering limited free searches and paid subscriptions for broader access.
Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles confirmed the government is aware of the breach and has notified authorities. “We’ve notified authorities and that is being worked through,” he said. The website provides an opt-out form to delete contact details within seven days.
LinkedIn has denied any data breach on its platform, stating that its policies prohibit third-party companies from scraping personal data without user consent. Ley’s staff said they contacted LinkedIn after being alerted by media, and are awaiting a response.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns, whose number was also exposed, joked that no one had “prank called” him yet but expressed concern. This incident follows a similar leak in 2017 when the private numbers of hundreds of Australian MPs and staffers were published on the Parliament House website.
