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Published : 10 Feb 2025, 02:44 PM
The Election Commission, or EC, has uncovered evidence suggesting that five institutions using National Identity Card, or NID, services have leaked sensitive information to third parties.
These institutions include the Directorate General of Health Services, UCB Bank's Upay, the Chittagong Port Authority, the Department of Women Affairs, and the finance ministry's iBAS.
EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed confirmed that preliminary investigation had yielded sufficient proof of the breach.
Speaking to journalists after a meeting with institutions utilising NID verification services at the Election Building in Agargaon on Tuesday, Akhtar said that the implicated institutions have been issued show-cause notices.
“An investigation is underway to determine whether the breaches were the result of institutional negligence or deliberate actions. If this occurred due to individual initiative, it would constitute a punishable offense,” he said.
The EC secretary revealed that 182 organisations are currently utilising services from the National Identity Registration Division.
"There should be limits on data usage. One cannot blame the thief for leaving it out in the open,” said Akhtar.
He noted that some organisations are obtaining services from other entities, a practice that violates the terms of their agreements.
“A review will be conducted with stakeholders to assess whether any organisation is accessing more data than necessary.”
On Jul 6, 2023, the American tech website TechCrunch reported the breach of citizens' personal information from a government website in Bangladesh.
The TechCrunch report detailed that personal information, including full names, phone numbers, email addresses, and NID card numbers of Bangladeshi citizens, had been exposed online.
Three days after the incident, the NID division asserted that the EC's NID server was "secure" and denied any breach of its data. It further stated that if any errors or discrepancies were identified, the contract would be terminated.
