X
Tech

Major tech glitches cripple Big Brother site

Network Ten has closed off sections of the Big Brother Web site that reportedly expose personal information of registered users.
Written by Brett Winterford, Contributor

Network Ten has closed off sections of the Big Brother Web site that reportedly expose personal information of registered users.

Users of the Big Brother 2007 site, launched on Sunday night, first noted that something was amiss after registering for premium content.

Users also discovered that their log-in attempts were being randomly redirected to other users' identities, exposing a variety of personal information and causing Ten serious privacy headaches.

The broadcaster has refused to comment on the fiasco apart from releasing a brief statement acknowledging it is working to resolve technical problems with the site.

"Currently Network Ten is experiencing some technical issues on the site which it is working to resolve urgently," the company said. "Some areas of the site that are normally only accessible to registered users have been temporarily taken offline while the issues are being resolved."

Ten has opened up the content reserved for paying "premium" users to the wider public and suspended any new user registrations until the technical problems have been resolved.

"The Live Stream and White Room Stream are open to all users, regardless of registration status," says a message on the Big Brother site. "You now have unlimited access to these two streams, as well as the normal access to our regular news, diary and video content."

This premium content is usually only available to members who have paid a AU$39.95 subscription fee.

Ten has also shut down the site's official forum, seemingly to prevent complaints. Users have instead flocked to unofficial forums such as behindbigbrother.com to discuss the issue.

When contacted, Damian Smith, general manager of digital media at Ten, couldn't comment on the problems as he was "flat out".

Editorial standards