The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has apologised for disclosing the private email addresses of more than 2,700 stranded Australians trying to get home and has pledged to review its internal processes in the wake of the bungle.
DFAT forgot to hide the email addresses on correspondence offering loans to those still stuck overseas to help them pay for living expenses or a flight home.
In the email, the addressees were mistakenly listed in the "to" field, rather than "bcc", making them visible to other recipients.
The department tried to recall the email before asking recipients to delete it in order to minimise the security risk.
"The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has apologised for the inadvertent disclosure of the email addresses of 2,727 people," a DFAT spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday, adding that no other personal information of any recipient was disclosed.
The spokesperson said the department "takes its privacy obligations and the handling of personal information very seriously".
"Prompt remedial actions have been taken in this case," they said.
"A follow-up message was sent the same day on which recipients were asked to refrain from forwarding the email and to delete it from their IT systems.
"Those affected were provided with a point of contact should they have any concerns or require further advice."
DFAT said it would work to ensure the error wouldn't happen again.
"DFAT is reviewing its internal processes and has taken additional measures to ensure this mistake is not repeated."
The department had also tweeted an apology on Wednesday night.
"We apologise for unintentionally disclosing email addresses of stranded Australians we’re trying to help get home," the tweet said.
Earlier, one of the email recipients, Danielle Myles, a freelance journalist based in Italy, posted a screenshot of the email to Twitter that showed there were around 1,000 addresses that received it.
More than 25,000 Australians remain stranded overseas.
Two weeks ago, federal and state leaders agreed to increase the weekly cap on those allowed to enter Australia from 4,000 to 6,000.
Many stranded Australians continue to face cancelled flights that have been rescheduled into 2021.
The head of the Australian Border Force, Michael Outram, told a Senate coronavirus inquiry in August that approximately 25 per cent of those in hotel quarantine were not Australian citizens or residents.
