A group of Albanian civil society organizations has issued a statement of concern following the leak of almost 1 million personal data files of citizens.
They condemned the “illegal collection, processing, administration, and dissemination of personal and sensitive data…in order to protect the electoral result in the 25 April elections.”
Earlier this week, the media published details of a large database that contained the personal information of more than 910,000 voters. It included members of the public, journalists, members of civil society, and well-known personalities. This data was allegedly taken from the Civil Registry and provided to the Socialist Party for use in the electoral campaign.
910,000 records are equivalent to one-third of the population, or around half of those eligible to vote. It’s believed that more records exist and are in the hands of politicians.
The data provided included their ID number, name, fathers name, surname, date of birth, voting center, place of birth, residence code, list number, phone number, whether they are an emigrant and if so, which country, whether they are likely to vote for the Socialist Party, birthplace, employer, and Patron.
Not only was this data, in Access format, shared with a political party, but it was then leaked to the public domain and is now being shared widely amongst the public.
The groups quote several sections of the law which they state the Socialist Party has violated.
“Pursuant to Article 2 of Law no. 9887, dated 10.3.2008 “On the protection of personal data”, the lawful processing of personal data is done by respecting and guaranteeing fundamental human rights and freedoms and in particular, the right to privacy, while in Article 3 is defined as “personal data” any information about a natural person that makes him or her identifiable or identifiable between elements such as identification numbers or another specific physical, psychological, economic, social, cultural, etc. factors. The same article defines that any information about the natural person, related to his racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, trade union membership, religious or philosophical belief, criminal conviction, as well as data on health and sexual life constitute sensitive personal data,
It is clear that in this .ase, the Socialist Party of Albania has in fact taken on the role of data controller, which alone or in cooperation with others, holds, processes, administers, archives, and therefore controls personal data.
Article 6 of Law no. 9887, dated 10.3.2008 “On the protection of personal data” defines the criteria for legal processing of personal data, with the central element the express consent of the data subject, processing only for a lawful purpose and specific, complete information regarding the data administered to each entity and the right to request at any time correction and deletion of this category of information.”
They claim that even if the information had been collected for statistical research, it should have been done in a format that is encrypted immediately so the subjects cannot be identified. Such data is only then allowed to be used by people who are obliged to maintain confidentiality. It’s clear, they said, that the database in question doesn’t fit this criteria.
They continue:
“In the language of law, this case openly constitutes illegal collection, processing, and dissemination of personal and sensitive data of nearly 1 million Albanian citizens, without their consent and moreover without taking any appropriate organizational or technical measures to protect the data. from unlawful acts or accidental loss, to protect access or dissemination by unauthorized persons as well as from any other illegal form of processing, as provided by Article 27 of the same law.”
They called on the authorities to investigate the leak from the Socialist Party database and to secure data from further exposure. They added they hope law enforcement will conduct a “correct, fair, and impartial investigation in order to protect the fundamental rights of citizens, the media, journalists, and whistleblowers who have made the case public.”
Several journalists who reported on the leak have found themselves targeted on social media, according to the statement.
The statement is signed by the Alliance Against LGBT Discrimination, Civil Rights Defenders, Community Reporters Albania, Social justice, Together Foundation, Institute of Political Studies, Institute for Democracy and Mediation, Albanian Media Council, Egyptian Youth Movement, ProLGBT, Civic Resistance, and the Young Professionals Network.
