Election Data Breach Story Renews Press Freedom Debate in Albania

TIRANA, ALBANIA - First came the news that the personal data of over 900,000 Albanians might be in the hands of party officials. Then came the news that the journalists who broke the story had been ordered by an anti-corruption court to hand over devices, including computers and cellphones.

As Albania heads to national polls Sunday, with the ruling Socialist Party seeking a third term in office, the controversy over alleged misuse of personal data and the fact that an anti-corruption unit exerted pressure on Lapsi.al, the news site that revealed the alleged breach, has sparked a debate over press freedom. Lapsi.al broke the story of the apparent breach on April 11, saying it had secured a database from a source whom it did not identify. The database contained personal information from thousands of people in the capital, Tirana, that Lapsi said could have come only from a government agency. The ruling party and Prime Minister Edi Rama have denied the allegations, with Rama saying the database does not belong to the Socialist Party.