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Readers’ reactions – Amber Group breaks silence on personal data exposure

Published:Tuesday | February 23, 2021 | 12:06 AM

The Amber Group broke its silence on the exposure of personal data on thousands of travellers on the Government’s COVID-19 website, JAMCOVID, it developed. But the website developer is saying nothing about how such a lapse could have occurred and why allegedly months-old data were in storage and not destroyed, as promised by authorities. Here are some readers’ reactions on the story sourced from The Gleaner’s Twitter and Facebook pages:

“Amber Group still hasn’t named the “independent entities” it claims to be working with. As such, we (nor can anyone else) can’t confirm if this is accurate or truthful. Amber still won’t say how this data exposure happened, and hasn’t answered any of @jovanthony’s questions.”

@zackwhittaker

“This is what happens when we accept gifts without checking it. We needed to have our local experts check that application before we launched it.”

@Debz_Shaw

“How was the Amber Group solicited for the job? How were they known to the MOHW & OPM? Have they undertook jobs of similar nature before?”

@Triciaforever

“Are we getting this straight? So a cybersecurity man detects a problem with unsecured data and notifies the owner of the data bank. Is that owner now threatening the man who brought the problem to their attention? That’s how it appears. If that’s not the case, then please say so.”

@Zemi66

“The contractors failed their contractual agreements, and the Government failed to audit the delivered product and took the product on blind faith. This was a double failure! Buck stops with Government.”

Jamaican Till I Die II

“When u do a ting fi free it nuh haffi do good.”

Renae Williams

“This has opened a fresh door for the debate of securing the nation’s data on its subjects. Breach of extremely sensitive information is a major concern.”

Oakley Lyle

“He is the same man talking about teaching coding as a new industry for Jamaica. Clearly, people’s sensitive data have been breached, hence Amber’s credibility and goodwill have been called into question. Now accountability and restitution may be appropriate. But as usual, the authorities have no sense of shame or accountability.”

Keith Nethersole

“The last time I checked, only God was good and perfect. We all have to make mistakes in order to learn. Sorry for all of this and I hope it is corrected soon. I believe it’s time we all work for the betterment of our country and stop waiting for mistakes to be made so we can criticise people.”

Charmaine Ferguson

“So if only under 700 people were affected, you’re telling me that only two flights were affected from June 2020 until now? Either I’m stupid or the person who said it is, and I know I ain’t stupid.”

Renae Williams

“And they are yet to know if data were stolen. This is gross incompetence. Where was the oversight?”

Dayne-Christopher Anderson