Staff Correspondent:

The election commission (EC) has suspended the NID verification services of Ansar-VDP Bank and BRAC Bank after it found credible evidence of NID data leak from the two organisations.

EC’s NID wing Director General ASM Humayun Kabir divulged this information with newspersons on Wednesday.

The election commission maintains a database containing the personal information of over 120 million citizens. Various government and private institutions verify NID information to provide services, based on agreements with the EC.

The NID data was leaked from several partnered organisations earlier as well.

Humayun Kabir stated that the EC regularly monitors data usage. During such monitoring on Tuesday, it was found that data was being leaked from two organisations.

Upon further verification, it was confirmed that the data was being leaked from the Ansar-VDP Bank and BRAC Bank.

The NID wing Director General said the authorities have suspended the services to these two organisations as credible evidence of data leak has been found.

An investigation has already been initiated, he added.

Humayun Kabir further said that one of the banks has contacted the EC. The EC has instructed the organisation to ensure necessary protective measures and take disciplinary action against those responsible for the leak. The DG stated that further action will be taken as per the contract.