National ID data leak: Election Commission exposes five institutions involved

The Election Commission (EC) has discovered clear evidence of data being leaked from five different institutions that use national ID services. 

The Commission‍‍`s Secretary, Md. Akhtar Ahmed, revealed the findings this morning at the EC building in Agargaon, Dhaka.

The institutions involved in the data breach are the Ministry of Health, the IBAS under the Ministry of Finance, UCB Bank, the Chittagong Port Authority, and the Department of Women Affairs.

Md. Akhtar Ahmed confirmed that initial investigations had found solid proof of the data leakage. 

The Commission is now looking into the matter more thoroughly and has requested explanations from the involved institutions. 

If it is proven that the data breach was intentional, the Commission will take strict action.

He also shared that there are 182 organizations that rely on the Election Commission’s National ID division to verify information about citizens’ ID cards.

This incident follows a public uproar over the leak of citizens‍‍` personal data from the Bangladesh Computer Council ahead of the 12th national election. 

While the Council had denied the allegations, the Election Commission conducted its own investigation. 

As a result, on December 20, the Commission decided to terminate its agreement with the Bangladesh Computer Council.