The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Opposition politicians yesterday demanded that the Government swiftly investigate whether the ‘leak’ of 1.3 million corporate documents from the Registrar General’s Department resulted from a data security breach, amid calls for the Attorney General to be reassigned.

K P Turnquest, the FNM’s deputy leader, said, though, that the Christie administration “cannot be taken seriously” when it comes to data security because of its previous release of confidential e-mails belonging to the Save the Bays activist group.

He nevertheless called for a probe to determine whether the data purportedly obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), and its global media partners, had come from ‘hacking’ or any other method that violated the Data Protection Act.

Mr Turnquest said it was vital for all investors and businesses in the Bahamas to know their confidential data was secured and protected, warning that “serious damage” may have been inflicted upon the Bahamian financial services industry.

And he also suggested that Prime Minister Perry Christie consider whether to reassign Allyson Maynard-Gibson to a new ministerial post, given that the alleged breach had occurred under her stewardship. Mrs Maynard-Gibson did not return Tribune Business calls and e-mails seeking comment.

“It is clear.... that there has been a very serious data protection breach at the Register General’s Office, which falls under the Attorney General,” Mr Turnquest said in response to ICIJ claims that it now possessed data on 176,000 Bahamas-domiciled entities.

“This is very serious, and the Attorney General must respond to the threat and advise what steps have been taken to determine if, in fact there has been a breach; how extensive the problem has been; what information has been illegally accessed; any legal implications to the jurisdiction; and have clients been notified of the breach and advised of steps to protect themselves from financial, legal and personal risk?”

Mr Turnquest also asked whether an IT audit had been conducted at the Registrar General’s Department and its companies registry, and if all data access points had been reinforced.

He suggested, though, that the Government lacked all credibility when it came to data protection, especially since Jerome Fitzgerald, minister of education, had this week said he would “leak private information” in the House of Assembly again should a similar case to Save the Bays arise.

“He was speaking to a similar alleged breach of confidential information that highlighted the serious damage that has been done to this sensitive financial services industry,” Mr Turnquest said.

“We wonder if he has yet realised the danger of his actions and careless speech. The Government cannot be taken seriously in condemning this latest breach and release of confidential data (if the government system was, in fact, hacked), if they condone Minister Fitzgerald’s actions, tone and statements in relation to the Save the Bays members’ e-mail leaks. To do so would make them all hypocrites.”

Fred Smith QC, Save the Bays’ legal director, yesterday seized on the ICIJ ‘leak’ to warn the House of Assembly’s committee on privilege that it risked further undermining the Bahamas’ data security reputation should it proceed with its probe into the Supreme Court ruling on the Save the Bays’ e-mails.

“I hope this sends a clear message to the Privilege Committee that they should be very anxious about the reputation of the Bahamas abroad, and they should not seek to legitimise for purely political and vindictive reasons the illegal tabling and discussion of private financial and confidential information belonging to Save the Bays,” Mr Smith told Tribune Business.

Meanwhile, with Mrs Maynard-Gibson already under pressure over her decision to direct the Magistrate’s court to discontinue the criminal action against Sandals Royal Bahamian and its top executives, Mr Turnquest sought to ramp this up even further.

“It is now clearly reasonable for the Prime Minister to reconsider his ministerial allocations to ensure that the individuals overseeing these critical Ministries are focused and fully in control of these sensitive areas,” he added.

Mr Turnquest’s call for an investigation was backed by Democratic National Alliance (DNA) leader Branville McCartney, who described the ICIJ revelations as “a serious breach”.

“I think they need to determine fully how that breach occurred, and the Government needs to look at that and ensure that doesn’t happen in the future,” he added.