United States: Several high-profile figures, including Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Donald Trump Jr., have had their private phone numbers published on a US website that uses artificial intelligence to scrape publicly available information.
The personal contact details for both individuals remain publicly listed on the platform. Albanese’s office has confirmed it is aware of the situation, first reported by independent Australian outlet Ette Media, and local authorities are now investigating.
A spokesman for Australia’s opposition leader, Sussan Ley, whose private number was also included, described the publication as ‘obviously concerning’ and said they had requested the information be removed.
The website claims to hold contact details for hundreds of millions of professionals worldwide and is primarily used by recruiters and sales representatives. Medias verified that it includes a current private number for Albanese and a personal contact for Trump Jr., though it is unclear whether the latter still uses the number.
It remains unknown how the site obtained the data. Australia has experienced several significant data breaches in recent years, raising concerns over the protection of personal information.
Attempts to contact numbers listed for former US Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton produced no response and a confused answer, respectively. A London landline purportedly linked to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer also rang out.
The website allows users to search a limited number of contacts for free or subscribe to a paid service. According to its own description, it collects publicly available information, such as US Securities and Exchange Commission filings, while using AI to collate data from social media, job portals, and other web sources. Individuals listed on the platform can request removal of their personal information via an opt-out form.
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