Private Phone Numbers of PM Albanese, Donald Trump Jr Exposed on AI-Driven US Website

The private phone numbers of several high-profile political figures, including Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Donald Trump Jr, have been publicly listed on a US-based website that claims to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to scrape data from across the internet.

The personal contact details for both Albanese and Trump Jr remain publicly accessible on the platform, which is reportedly used by recruiters and sales representatives for its massive database of professional contacts.

The BBC has independently verified that the site includes a current private number for Prime Minister Albanese and a personal contact number for Donald Trump Jr, though it is currently unclear if the latter is still in use.

The exposure of the personal contact details of a sitting head of government is a significant security and privacy incident.

Australian PM’s Office confirmed it is aware of the situation, which was initially reported by the Australian media outlet Ette Media, and local authorities have launched an investigation.

The office of Australia’s opposition leader, Sussan Ley, whose private number was also listed, called the matter “obviously concerning” and has formally requested the information be taken down.

The website claims its database contains contact information for hundreds of millions of professionals worldwide.

The method by which the site obtained the sensitive, private information is currently unknown, though Australia has grappled with a series of massive data breaches in recent years.

According to its own website, the company uses a sophisticated process:

It collects already public information, such as financial filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Crucially, it employs AI to collate data from various sources including social media networks, other web crawlers, and job portals.

The site allows users to search the database for a limited number of contacts for free, with a subscription required for full access.

In an unsettling demonstration of the site’s data reach, the BBC also called numbers listed for former US Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. While the number listed for Obama was unresponsive, the number purportedly belonging to Clinton was answered by an “audibly confused man.” A London landline listed for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer also rang out.

The website does offer an opt-out form allowing individuals to request the removal of their personal data from the database.

Do you want to know more about how AI is used for data scraping or the specific data breaches that have affected Australia?