Indonesian president’s vaccine passport LEAKED through official government app, sparking greater security concerns

Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s Covid-19 vaccine details were leaked this week through the country’s official coronavirus vaccine passport app, sparking concern about Indonesia’s health data privacy.

Widodo’s vaccine certificate was accessed through the Ministry of Communications PeduliLindungi contact tracing and vaccine passport app and then shared on social media, with the leaked details including the president’s name, date of birth, vaccination dates and type, and identification number.

The flaw in the app was soon fixed, according to Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, however images of the leaked certificate remain on social media.

The incident sparked data privacy concerns in Indonesia, with social media users questioning whether they could still trust the government’s Covid-19 app.

“I trust the government's apps less and less after this,” one person commented, while another questioned whether a YouTuber would soon make a video attempting to access the mall – where vaccine passports are required for entry – using the president’s certificate.

Presidential spokesperson Fadjroel Rachman told Tribunnews that the president’s office “regrets the incident” and called for an investigation into the data breach “so that similar incidents do not happen again.”

“Hopefully related parties will immediately take special steps to prevent similar incidents, including protecting public data,” the spokesperson declared.

The leak of the president’s vaccine data comes just days after Indonesia announced an investigation into a flaw in its Health Alert Card (eHAC) app, which left health statuses and other personal information of 1.3 million people exposed.

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