In Armenia data about thousands of patients with coronavirus were leaked

The National Security Service of Armenia (NSS) finds out that the personal data of 3,500 patients with coronavirus and their contacts were leaked

On June 13, Armenian media expert Samvel Martirosyan wrote on his Facebook page that Azerbaijani hackers published the data of 3,500 residents of Armenia who tested positive for coronavirus or had contact with them.

“The National Security Service is taking appropriate measures to clarify and detect the circumstances of the leak of personal data of people, as well as those who realized it,” said the statement.

Recall that on April 1,  Armenian President Armen Sarkisian signed the bill on amendments to the law “on the legal regime of emergency” and “on electronic communication” adopted in the Parliament. It allows monitoring the movement of citizens using data from mobile operators. 

The authors of the bill promised that data on the movement of citizens will not be available to foreign companies and governments, and inside the country will be deleted immediately after the end of the state of emergency.

The founder of the Zorakn Youth Educational Foundation Karen Vrtanesyan commented on this situation, noting the problem with the protection of personal data.

According to him, the leak occurred from some local point. This means that the personal data that the authorities collected by tracking the movement of people on the phone, assuring that everything is normal, is not protected.

It became known that a well-known Azerbaijani hacker who specializes in hacking Armenian Facebook profiles and stealing them, published a database.

At the moment, not a single government agency has responded to the publication of personal data. Karen Vrtanesyan believes that there was a leak from the authorities. This means that there is no guarantee that the information is protected. He talks about the need to conduct an investigation and give an explanation.