It's been two weeks since millions of Australians learned their data might have been compromised in the Optus hack. 

Since then other data breaches have been revealed, and the precarious nature of the way our personal information is often stored is becoming clear. 

So what actually happens when someone tries to steal your identity? 

Today, contributor to The Saturday Paper, Emma Phillips, on how it feels to lose control of your identity, and her fight to get it back. 

In a statement in response to issues raised in this episode, the Victorian Department of Transport said:

“We’re protecting Victorian licence holders from identity theft with strong security measures in place to protect the data we hold.”

“This includes ensuring that only genuine victims of identity theft can change their licence number and taking steps to ensure a person who calls up, or goes into one of our customer service centres is who they say they are.”

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Guest: Contributor to The Saturday Paper, Emma Phillips.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.