Vaz did not commit data breach of Golding's citizenship information, says Morris Dixon
Published:Wednesday | May 22, 2024 | 1:20 PM
Information Minister Dr Dana Morris Dixon says Cabinet Minister Daryl Vaz did not commit a data breach when he revealed personal information about Opposition Leader Mark Golding.
The People's National Party (PNP) Monday accused Vaz of publicly releasing information on Golding's private interactions with the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) while speaking on Radio Jamaica's current affairs programme Beyond the Headlines with host Dionne Jackson Miller that same day.
Vaz told Jackson Miller that Golding applied for his Jamaican passport at age 46, five years after serving as a senator.
He said the opposition leader applied for the travel document in 2011 or 2012.
He said Golding applied for and received a United Kingdom visa in 2022 because he was to lead a party delegation to London.
The PNP has called for an investigation to be conducted in what it says was a significant data breach.
But, Vaz has denied that the information came from PICA, posting on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that it came from “deep within the belly of the PNP”.
He doubled down on his claim on Tuesday, telling The Gleaner further that “No public figure, whether in Jamaica or the world, should ever think that anything they have can be hidden. You start on the premise that anything you're involved in or associated with can be found,” he said.
Speaking at this morning's post-Cabinet press briefing, Morris Dixon reiterated Vaz's assertion, telling journalists that the Government is “the most committed to the concept of data privacy.”
“We've done a lot of work in promulgating the Data Protection Act and that was coming out of listening to the people of Jamaica who had legitimate concerns about the privacy of their data. And just last week in the Senate, I would have spoken to the Data Protection Act on our commitment to implementing it on June 1,” she said.
She said Vaz, who is Minister of Technology, is “very seized” of the issue of data privacy as he was the Minister who had oversight of the Data Protection Act before it came to the Office as the Prime Minister.
“I believe what he may have been saying when you said that nothing is secret is that when you are a public official there are always people who know things about you and there are always people who, for whatever reason, may pass information on you,” she said.
“There is no way that he would be saying that, you know…is it's okay to breach privacy because he is the minister that had oversight for the data protection [act] before it came to The Office of the Prime Minister. So he is very seized of the rules and I'd have no doubt that he would not have tried in any way to breach data privacy rules because he has been such a critical part of promulgating those rules,” she added.
- Sashana Small
Follow The Gleaner on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.