New request for access to information on hacking of Argentinian Health Ministry website

The Association for Civil Rights (ADC) submitted an access to information request to the Argentinian Ministry of Health after its systems were hacked on Saturday, October 22. Given the regularity of these breaches in government sites and the lack of details on the mechanics and extent of this event, we demand that the Ministry provide information on the type of hack suffered and the security measures taken to protect the personal data of Argentinian citizens.

Our petition seeks information on the servers government databases are stored, the people who have access to them, the confidentiality and security protocols protecting such records and the audits carried out to assess their security, among other inquiries.

“Given the sensitivity of the data that the Health Ministry handles, we must be apprised of the event’s impact and the data which has been compromised. We also must know the full consequences on the affected population and be provided with the means to deal with the situation,” said ADC project officer Luis García Balcarce.

The hack seems to have breached  the Hearings Registry (RUA) meetings, emails sent by the department staff and lists of HIV-positive people in Argentina. The Ministry, headed by Carla Vizzotti, announced that it has begun with the necessary procedures within the different state agencies to investigate the incident and file the corresponding complaint as soon as possible.

Although leakages of this type endanger the privacy and sensitive information of all Argentinian citizens, this is not the first one. ADC has repeatedly filed requests for access to public information on how public entities protect our data, with no response to the date.