Following the incident involving political party patrons, which resulted in the release of a database containing the personal information of 900,000 persons in Tirana, another private data breach has shocked the Albanian public in the last 24 hours.
A Tax Department database is circulating on social media with the names, firms, and salaries of hundreds of thousands of public and private sector personnel. The numbers are for the pay in January 2021, four months before the general legislative elections.
The data of Socialist Party patrons containing private information about residents was published “online” during the election campaign, however the Special Prosecution Against Corruption (SPAK) found no one guilty.
Meanwhile, the Tirana Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation for today’s breach.
Government spokesman Endri Fuga reacts
Endri Fuga, a government spokesman, reacted to the release of an Excel spreadsheet detailing the incomes of hundreds of thousands of people in various cities across the country.
“Preliminary analyses clearly demonstrate that there has been no digital export of the payroll database in the for the period January to April 2021,” Fuga said. “For this document they have pasted different pieces,” Fuga explains.
According to Fuga, the document also doesn’t have the full names of the persons whose salaries have been revealed.
” Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance and Economy is preparing an official denunciation for the prosecution in order to clarify this criminal breach in the pay database of Albanian nationals.”
President Ilir Meta of Albania: This is a flagrant breach of human rights, and a repeated offense
President Ilir Meta reacted to the scandal of the Taxes Department, after a database with the names, companies, and incomes of hundreds of thousands of public and private sector employees were leaked on social networks.
“Every citizen’s personal data, which is deposited in public institutions and administered in state databases, is personal, protected by law, and intended to be utilized only for the advantage of citizens and the state,” the Head of State underlined.
“Any other use of them is a criminal act that jeopardizes social harmony by infringing on every citizen’s personal security. I call on law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies to immediately set in motion, initiate verifications and investigations, to establish this pattern of illegal activity, and to take the necessary steps to ensure the protection of personal data and to bring the authors to justice.”
DP: Scandal of epic proportions, Rama must resign
The Democratic Party has reacted the leaking of a database containing the salaries of more than half a million Albanians.
Enkelejd Alibeaj, speaking on behalf of the Democratic Party, stated that the country is facing “an immense scandal.” The salaries of over 630 thousand persons, Albanian nationals and foreigners working in Albania, have been put on the market by Edi Rama’s government.
“Edi Rama’s government has utterly failed to secure personal and sensitive data on salary, personal identity numbers, and employment of over 630 thousand persons. The Democratic Party believes that the data breach on over 630 thousand persons’ salaries is part of the same patronage strategy employed by the Socialist Party to buy votes.”
Berisha: This scandal, the dark side of the Narco-State
Former Prime Minister Sali Bersha has also reacted to the scandal of the publication of the salaries of more than half a million Albanians.
We’re dealing with “the latest super-scandal of the narco-state!” to Berisha declared.
The leak, which is most likely based on the information of the Tax Office, is from January 2021 and includes over 63 thousand people, both Albanian and foreign citizens, is currently circulating on Whatsapp and other social networks.
Patozi: We have built a paper state
Astrit Patozi, former coordinator of the Democratic Obedience, has reacted to the leak of a document in Excel format, revealing the salaries of several hundred thousand people, living in different cities of the country.
Patozi writes that “we have built a paper state and the government should take responsibility immediately”.
“This is the most serious proof that we have built a state of paper. Because the sensitive data of every Albanian employed in this country have been put on the market.
“But the government is not responding and does not seem to be worried, as if this is an irrelevant topic,” Patozi declared.