Listener details leaked in data theft from radio station owner Nova Entertainment

Perth radio fans may be caught up in a data leak after Australian media company Nova Entertainment admitted information it collected over a two-year period had been “publicly disclosed”.

The company said in a statement on Friday it recently became aware listener information collected between May 2009 and October 2011 had been leaked.

Nova said it had notified the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner “and we are in the process of contacting law enforcement bodies”.

“We will fully and transparently engage with these entities in relation to this incident,” it said.

Nova has radio stations in most major capitals, including Perth’s 93.7FM, SmoothFM on DAB radio and operates Coles Radio.

It is encouraging those affected to change their passwords for their email account and all other online accounts using the same email address, username or password, including email, social media and online bank accounts.

Nova chief executive Cathy O’Connor said individuals affected would be notified of the steps they could take to prevent any potential misuse of their information.

“The types of information disclosed in this incident varies from person to person, but generally includes biographical information (such as name, gender and date of birth), contact information (such as residential address, email address, and telephone number), and user account details (such as user names and passwords, which were protected by ‘hashing’),” she said.

“We can confirm that no other information, including copies of identity documentation or financial information is contained in the dataset disclosed in this incident.”

The company has now engaged privacy, IT and cyber security consultants to find out how the information was obtained.

“We take privacy, and the security of the information we collect from our listeners very seriously, and on behalf of Nova Entertainment I deeply and sincerely regret that this incident has occurred,” Ms O’Connor said.

“We are fully committed to achieving the best possible outcome for anyone affected by this incident.”