Authorities Criticizing Former Regimes Now Concealing Data

Authorities speaking about transparency and open governance have decided, three years after the Velvet Revolution, to take steps for which they condemned previous administrations years ago. This pertains to a new initiative proposed by the Ministry of High-Tech Industry of the Republic of Armenia, which aims to restrict access to certain personal and governmental data on the e-gov.am website, as reported by Armlur.am.

The 'Zhoghovurd' newspaper learned that the ministry, in cooperation with the National Security Service of Armenia, has reviewed sensitive and risky data available on the e-gov.am and govtravel.am websites. Considering the new risks associated with the leakage of personal and state data following the recent war, they have blocked the necessary amendments presented by 'Ekenk' LLC on the e-gov.am website.

Supporters of this proposal conveniently forget the uproar that erupted in 2014 when Serzh Sargsyan’s government proposed categorizing the protocol expenses of the President, the Prime Minister, and the Speaker of the National Assembly as state secrets to be included in the list of state procurements. At that time, there was significant outcry and accusations against the administration for concealing expenses; now, the current authorities are attempting to do the same under the guise of secrecy.