Aussie military yanks $33.5 million Luxottica contract after personnel data sent offshore

The Australian Defense Force’s optometry service provider was let go last week after transmitting optical claims information overseas for processing – a breach of contract.

Medibank Health Solutions, the ADF’s medical and allied health provider, discovered the no-no in June.

On July 24, Luxottica Retail Australia lost its $33.5 million defense contract.

“Defense said it was assumed that all ADF personnel who received optical services since the start of its contract almost two years ago had been affected,” News Corp. reports.

Since 2012, Luxottica had been providing off-base optical services to all ADF personnel, mostly through its OPSM stores, popular eyewear retailers in Australia and New Zealand.

The exact number of personnel affected could not be confirmed, but the original award called for accommodating more than 80,000 employees each year.

The data included name and military unit, the results of eye tests and prescriptions, among other things.

Medibank officials said Luxottica has taken steps to recover the optical records.

“I’m not going to go into details (about where the claims were sent) because the fact is they shouldn’t have left Australia at all ... but what we do know is that they only went to Luxottica and Luxottica’s IT partners within their existing working relationships,” a Medibank spokeswoman said. “We’re not going to give out the exact nature of the data but it was optical claiming stuff.

“We’re not giving out numbers,” she added.