There was a data leak of Ukrainians during the testing of the e-notary system: the Ministry of Justice responded

There was a data leak of Ukrainians during the testing of the e-notary system: the Ministry of Justice responded

During the test use of the electronic notary system, there was a data leak from the Unified Register of Powers of Attorney and the Inheritance Register, including information about wills, reports the Notarial Chamber of Ukraine.

The organization regards this as a serious violation of notarial secrecy and citizens’ rights and calls for the suspension of the system’s testing.

The Ministry of Justice provided an official position regarding the testing of the e-notary system, during which, as noted by the Notarial Chamber of Ukraine (NCU), there was a data leak concerning powers of attorney and certified wills.

In its address to the head of the Ministry of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, and the Minister of Justice, Herman Galushchenko, the NCU stated that during the test of the e-notary system, “all powers of attorney, all wills that were entered into the specified registers before a certain date became accessible to all testers,” namely:

• Notaries who did not perform these notarial actions,
• Employees of territorial bodies involved in testing or organizing the test,
• A wide range of individuals, including developers, donors, organizers, and technical staff.

The NCU specifically noted that real data on certified wills was copied into the test system at e-notariat.edu.nais.gov.ua.

In response, the Ministry of Justice emphasized that "access to the e-notary system is exclusively for active authorized notaries who work with the registers in their daily activities" and reminded that "the obligation to maintain notarial secrecy applies to notaries regardless of whether it is an industrial or test environment."

At the same time, the Ministry of Justice did not explain whether agreements not to disclose the relevant information were signed by other participants involved in testing the system, including employees of territorial bodies engaged in testing or organizing the testing, as well as the respective developers, donors, organizers, and technical staff.

"The Ministry of Justice is beginning a stage of refinement of the system according to the proposals received from the notaries. After making the necessary changes, access for notaries to the training and testing period will be restored," the department noted.