CASE SCENARIO : Official files going public, The “ti problem” all of a sudden looks BIG…

Beginning of the week I lodged two complaints at the Data Protection Office. One regarding the Privacy Breach over the Feedback/Complaint form on the MNIC website (www.mnic.mu) and the second regarding a spreadsheet containing over 9,000 names & professional details of citizens operating in the Tourism industry, that was publicly viewable on a Government website. After 24 hours, while I still didn’t receive any notification about the complaint status, I verified the links that were initially on the website. They were still there. However, the file was modified and certain columns that contained phone and identity card numbers were removed. Still, if one would scroll down the sheet, ID Card numbers could be found on other locations.
The next day, I had a look at the file again, it was the same with a few columns deleted. Initially, I informed the Data Protection Office that the page is indexed by search engines and consequently the files are easily accessible via Google. I contacted the Data Protection Office to have an update. Hours later I was informed that the files have been removed. I went on the website and indeed the links were no more there. However, from a technical point of view un-linking a file and deleting a file aren’t the same thing. To assure myself I searched for the file using Google search. What I saw made me smile with a grin. The file was still there and not with the missing columns but with all the other details like official references, ID Card numbers, passport numbers, phone numbers and official comment/remarks. I replied the Data Protection Office that sadly, the file is still online. Till date, I didn’t receive any reply. The next day the file was taken off.
One week is almost over and I haven’t been re-contacted or notified by the Data Protection Office since my last email. I do not even know about the status of my complaint over the MNIC website.

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