Qantas resolves glitch after app users report mass privacy breach

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Qantas says it has resolved an issue that allowed users the ability to see other passenger’s details and boarding passes on their smartphones.

The national carrier issued a statement, apologising to its customers, and confirmed there was no indication that the glitch was a “cyber security incident”.

9News understands the incident has happened following an app update.

Passengers using the Qantas smartphone app say they are receiving other user’s details.

A Qantas spokesperson said current investigations indicate that it was caused by a technology issue and may have been related to recent system changes.

“The issue was isolated to the Qantas app with some frequent flyers able to see the travel information of other customers, including name, upcoming flight details, points balance and status,” the spokesperson said.

“No further personal or financial information was shared and customers would not have been able to transfer or use the Qantas Points of other frequent flyers.

“We’re not aware of any customers travelling with incorrect boarding passes.”

Qantas recommends that customers log out and log in to their Qantas Frequent Flyer account on the Qantas App.

“Please also be aware of social media scams at this time,” Qantas said.

“We’ll continue to provide more information as soon as we can.”

Technology expert Trevor Long told Today he captured at least 12 people’s details, including their boarding passes within 15 minutes.

“The thing with a boarding pass is that it has a QR code in it, that’s valid until the flight. Even if they resolve this issue, that boarding pass is valid,” he said.

“Qantas is going to have to re-issue boarding passes at the very least, which will create chaos for people who saved the boarding pass on their digital wallet on their smartphone.”