Albanian officials said Thursday they had launched an investigation into a mass personal data leak, with victims including the president and prime minister according to an AFP reporter who saw their data.
Prime Minister Edi Rama and President Ilir Meta were among those whose private information started to appear on WhatsApp and other digital platforms on Wednesday, the AFP correspondent said.
The leaked data included ID numbers, employer names, monthly wages and telephone numbers, the reporter saw.
Local media estimated almost 700,000 people including public servants, army and intelligence personnel, bank employees and journalists had been affected.
"The prosecutors have opened investigations," the prosecuting authority in the capital Tirana said in a statement.
Local media said police had seized servers from several locations, including the taxation authority and the national social insurance offices.
The prime minister said the information had been leaked "by inside individuals with access to… databases".
At a press conference Thursday, Rama apologised to all "those who were unfairly harmed" and promised a thorough investigation.
"The goal was… to provoke confusion and harm stability," he said.
It is the second such large leak of personal data this year in the Balkan country, after another in April, just days before the parliamentary election.
No one has yet been held accountable for that incident.
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