/SURVEILLANCE

NOTHING2HIDE

Hacktivistallation by Boris Budini & Redon Skikuli

In 2013, the UN approved rights to privacy in the digital age. However, this decision was made without the approval of the Third Love Affair of Albania. Ironically, one year before that, a major scandal exposed the extent of privacy violations against Albanian citizens. Officials from the ruling political party at the time gained unauthorized access to the server of the central tax office in Albania and took exact copies of 4.3 million documents over 3 days using hard drives.

This was not the first instance, though. It all began in 2008 when all the data from the civil registry was leaked, allowing anyone to easily download them online. This marked the moment when Albanian citizens of all ages, genders, political affiliations, and social classes became indiscriminately exposed to continuous violations of their personal data.

A decade later, public opinion was informed that the ruling political party had designated individuals, known as “Patronazhist”, in each neighborhood to gather detailed information about the political affiliations of more than one-third of the population. This was followed by the 2021 leaks of bank account details, paycheck information, personal IDs, car plate numbers, and ownership.

Undoubtedly, it was the largest leak of personal data from citizens who should have “Nothing2Hide.” Where is this data now? Deserted by governmental agencies, they are available for everyone to see, much like in a contemporary art exhibition!