The AFL has been made aware that personal details such as name, address, email, date of birth and phone numbers of some AFL Members have been printed on another member’s renewal form. This was the result of an error that has occurred in the digital printing process at the mailhouse, Printpoint.
AFL Chief Commercial and Broadcasting Officer Gillon McLachlan said it appeared the error occurred in selected batches of Silver Membership renewals that were mailed to AFL members over the past week although the exact number of members affected is not yet known.
"The AFL apologises unreservedly to our AFL members for this unacceptable breach of our member's privacy. We consider our member's privacy to be of the greatest importance and go to great lengths to check, re-check and secure all details before forwarding them to a mail house to be printed and mailed," Mr McLachlan said.
Once data is provided to a mailhouse, samples are provided to the AFL to ensure that the data has been applied correctly. The samples in this case were correct and approval was given to proceed with the printing process.
"I want to reassure all our members that no financial information, no credit card details or banking details are part of the renewal process," he said.
The error does not affect the entire file but to ensure all members have the correct information for the renewal process each of the affected batches will be completely re-printed and mailed over the next 10 days. A reply paid envelope will also be provided with the new renewal invoice so that incorrect forms can be returned to AFL Membership to be properly destroyed.
We advise that if you have received another member’s details on your renewal invoice, the printing error will have resulted in your member details being printed on one other member’s renewal form.
Based on the error pattern we can confirm that if you have already received your renewal pack and your details are correct on both sides of the form, then you have not been affected and your details have not been printed on another members form.
Once again, the AFL sincerely regrets that this incident has occurred to our valued members and we will continue to work with external print agencies, entrusted with your data, to ensure that your privacy is protected.
Please find below a statement issued from Alan Rhodes, Managing Director of Printpoint.
“On behalf of Printpoint I offer an unreserved apology to the AFL and AFL Members for the unacceptable data error that has occurred, resulting in the disclosure of some members personal contact details being printed on another members' renewal form in the printing process.
Printpoint acknowledges this error has occurred and has identified it as the result of a mechanical malfunction. We are working with the hardware suppliers to ascertain how this could have possibly happened. We are concerned and regretful that this has happened and we are working positively with the AFL to rectify this problem.
The information and data provided to us by the AFL was in the correct format and secure. I assure all AFL Members that their personal details remain secure and no other incidents have occurred outside of the printing error.
Printpoint is acutely aware of the importance of protecting the privacy of individuals and is committed to working with the AFL to resolve this matter.
Again I sincerely apologise for the embarrassment and any inconvenience this has caused the AFL and its members.”
Alan Rhodes
Managing Director of Printpoint
