Social Security Commission leaks data (2018)

 The Namibian reported in the edition of 11 June 2018 (https://www.namibian.com.na/68242/read/SSC-leak-exposes-personal-info-online), about the data leak noticed last week on the website of the Social Security Commission (SSC). The reporters that took up the story were able to alert the appropriate staff and the data leak was closed on Sunday, 10 June 2018.

As the leak has now been closed, the following is an overview of the occurrence and what should have been done to prevent such events in other organisations.

The Director of the Namibia Consumer Protection Group (NCPG), Milton LOUW, is an IT expert and owner of Aardvark Investments, a company that often undertakes tracing for insurance companies wishing to trace people who are due monies but their contact details are no longer current.

On Thursday 7 June 2018, a routine search for “Box 1141, Oshakati” showed the following results on Google.

Clicking on this link opened up the following page.

Once in this directory, there are 1,885 files in this directory which consists of submission to the SSC. Some of these files include very personal information such as ID number, SSC Registration number, and even salaries of certain companies. . PLEASE note that the information is from around 2013- 2018 and it is personal information that should not be in the public domain.

In addition to files submitted to SSC by companies, there was also adirectory of files containing the signed performance Performane Agrrements of top managers for the period 2016/17.

Are my company files compromised?

PLEASE NOTE: All inquiries regarding the information of employees and employers should now be addressed to the Social Security Commission: Chariold.Auchab@ssc.org.na, Tel: +264 61 2807712.

What happened?

The website was created with the default directory www.(company).na/files/downloads. In this directory were placed all the electronic forms that employers can use to submit their employee details.
Unfortunately, the webmaster also used this directory to download all the files submitted to the SSC. This directory for ovious reasons needs to be available to the public, search engines, etc. and this did not have a prohibitive .htaccess file.

How to prevent this?

The public face of the company / organisation through its online presence should always be kept seperate from information received from its clients via the internet. This means that any and all correspondence from customers should be automatically routed to a directory that is not part of the public domain.

Conclusion

This is the first, and certainly not the last data breach that the media will report on. Namibia has to develop its security and implement the Electronic Transactions, Data Protection, and Access to Information Acts.
NOTE: .htaccess is the default name for a file that is used to indicate who can or cannot access the contents of a specific file directory from the Internet or an intranet.

DEBT REVIEW needed for consumers

One of the biggest problems in starting a family is that most of the things I want, such as furniture, motor vehicle, etc. costs more money than what I earn in a month. The only option for purchasing these high cost items is to either save or to take it on credit. For myself, I have learned the hard way that it is better to save and buy later, rather than purchase on credit and not be able to afford the monthly payments later.

Unfortunately, most consumers still prefer to buy on credit and can find themselves borrowing recklessly and then becoming “over-indebted”. In many countries of the world, a law has been enacted as a National Credit Act that promotes an effective, fair and accessible credit market and to help protect consumers from “reckless lending” and “over-indebtedness”. Unfortunately, Namibia has not yet enacted many such consumer laws yet.

Under such a credit environment, debt counselling is included as a tool to help consumers get out from under debt. These debt counsellors must be trained and certified so that they can assist consumers with debt problems, help to design debt repayment plans and negotiate on behalf of the consumer with creditors to enable the consumer to afford their monthly debt payments. (This process is called Debt Review). The idea behind debt counselling is to help clients reduce their overall debt with creditors in the most cost effective way. At present, with no legal framework in place for debt counselling, the consumer only has two remedies when they cannot pay their debt: administration and sequestration.

There are, however, severe disadvantages to both of these and they disempower you as a consumer. If your debt is lower than N$50 000 you may apply to have your debt placed in administration. Under administration order a large part of your disposable income can forcibly be taken to repay your debts and comes with an administration charge of up to 12,5 percent of each instalment you pay. This would mean that for every N$100 you pay in debt, N$12.50 would go to cover the cost of the administrator. Under sequestration you lose all your assets, as they are sold to cover as much of your debt as possible and you will need permission from a court-appointed trustee if you want to borrow any money. This disempowering of the consumer needs to be addressed and this is the core reason for introducing debt counselling under a Credit Act. The biggest attraction is that under a credit law the process is regulated and designed to prevent creditors from harassing you and prevent the loss of crucial assets.

In addition – unlike with administration orders – as much as 95% of your monthly payment will go to pay your debts under a debt counselling plan. There is a cost to debt counselling – after all the service is being provided by a trained and certified professional. In the regulations of the law, the Credit Regulator will be able to determine tariffs for an application fee, rejection fee (if you are found not to be indebted), the debt counsellor fee, as well as after-care fees. One of the further benefits is that such a law would enforce more rigidly the “in duplum” rule, which under common law limits the interest that a creditor may charge on any debt you incur. This common law rule holds that the creditor may not charge more interest once the unpaid interest equals the outstanding debt.

I hope the Ministry of Finance will look urgently into the matter of over-indebtedness – which I believe affects more than 15 000 households in the country

Unclaimed Monies in the Namibian Financial Sector

 

List No. 4 is being released on 1 September 2023

All  Pension Funds in Namibia must in the month of January each year publish statements of benefits that have remain unclaimed for a period of five years or more in terms of section 93(1) of the Administration of Estates Act, 1965 (Act No. 66 of 1965) in the Government Gazette.

NAMFISA has noted in 2019 that not all funds have been publishing these lists as required and is busy enforcing this. 

Several funds are using the Consumer Registration Database of over 1 million records and have had some success in tracing these members or their beneficiaries. A database has also been created to capture all the data from thepublishezd Gazettes since the early 1970’s. It is expected that by February 2023, this database will be available to the public.

You can search to see if you or your family are beneficiaries of unclaimed monies:

GIPF: https://www.gipf.com.na/member-benefits/unclaimed-benefits/

Sanlam: 

1. https://milton-louw.blogspot.com/2022/11/unclaimed-monies-newsletter-no-1-of.html 
2. https://milton-louw.blogspot.com/2022/11/unclaimed-monies-newsletter-no-2-of.html 
3. https://milton-louw.blogspot.com/2022/11/unclaimed-monies-newsletter-no-3-of.html 

Due to so much interest in the Unclaimed Monies lists, there is now a form for you to register and see if there is unclaimed money for you.

https://forms.gle/J7r6Cbjnv2gwwY1u9

Law Society of Namibia leaks personal data of its members (7 July 2023)

Namibia does not yet have a legal framework to protect personal details such as full names, date of birth and personal contact details. In fact, many businesses and government departments are not even trained in what is considered personal information. Take for example the website of the Law Society of Namibia (LSN). On its “Find a Firm or Practitioner” page (https://lawsocietynamibia.org/find-a-firm-or-practitioner/), it shows public information in a browser window, namely Name, Surname, Designation and Industry. If, however you investigate the coding of the page, it will also give you the Full Names, Date of Birth, and Personal Cellular Number of all its members. 

 The ability to save information on a computer and share this electronically necessitates legislation to be promulgated that protects the abuse of this information. These laws are especially necessary in our Information and Communication enabled society where information is stored on electronic retrieval systems. 

 The Namibian Constitution states in Article 13 Privacy: “(1) No persons shall be subject to interference with the privacy of their homes, correspondence or communications save as in accordance with law and as is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the protection of health or morals, for the prevention of disorder or crime or for the protection of the rights or freedoms of others.” The Constitution thus guarantees only “Physical Privacy”. The storage of personal and business information (“Informational Privacy”) must have legislation that will prevent misuse of this information. In addition, the individual in Namibia must be able to access any, and all, information that is stored by the state (public institutions). 

 There are thus things that are needed to guarantee informational privacy: 

1. Data Protection Act; 

2. Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations; 

3. Freedom of Access to Information Act 

 The Namibia Consumer Protection Group (NCPG) once again calls on the broader society in Namibia to become aware of the need for data privacy and protection and encourages open discussion and what can be done. The NCPG will be preparing Public Facing Information Reports for our largest businesses and vulnerable person to encourage them to manage their data better. 

 As for the members of the Law Society, you should expect correspondence from me regarding the data leaked as well as on any other public facing information you need to manage.

Example of data leak at LSN: 

Mr

RB

Ralph Bazil

Strauss

23/12/1963

29/04/2011

Director

Practice

Dr Weder, Kauta & Hoveka Incorporated

Windhoek

061 - 275 550

061 - 220 553

061 - 238 802

081 146 1414

strauss@wkh-law.com

P O Box 864, Windhoek

WKH House, Jan Jonker Road, Ausspannplatz

Ministry of Finance

B.Comm LLB

Namibian Students Financial Assistance Fund leaks over 10,000 records

 

The Namibian Ministry of Information and Communication Technology is busy inviting comments from the public on the draft Data Protection Bill till the end of November 2022. Some of your rights as a consumer whose data is being collected and processed will allow for you to have information corrected or removed as well as punishments for non compliant entities.

In October 2022, it was found that the Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund had placed files on their website to indicate the successful students who have received assistance. One of the files, placed in November 2019, was a 106 page document that included the following information:

• Last Name
• First Name
• Unique ID
• Namibian ID
• Email
• Cellphone Number
• Students Number

All in all, 10,972 students details with all necessary information to steal their identity was placed inadvertently on the Internet.

Over the past week, all the students on the list have been contacted (and added to this newsletter) to inform them of the data leak. It must also be noted that the NSFAF has also blocked any downloads from their site after they were informed of the incident.

Unfortunately, until the law is in place, there is no recourse for anyone whose identity has been stolen in this manner.

Unclaimed Monies in the Namibian Financial Sector

All  Pension Funds in Namibia must in the month of January each year publish statements of benefits that have remain unclaimed for a period of five years or more in terms of section 93(1) of the Administration of Estates Act, 1965 (Act No. 66 of 1965) in the Government Gazette.

NAMFISA has noted in 2019 that not all funds have been publishing these lists as required and is busy enforcing this. 

Several funds are using the Consumer Registration Database of over 1 million records and have had some success in tracing these members or their beneficiaries. A database has also been created to capture all the data from thepublishezd Gazettes since the early 1970’s. It is expected that by February 2023, this database will be available to the public.

You can search to see if you or your family are beneficiaries of unclaimed monies:

GIPF: https://www.gipf.com.na/member-benefits/unclaimed-benefits/

Sanlam: 

1. https://milton-louw.blogspot.com/2022/11/unclaimed-monies-newsletter-no-1-of.html 
2. https://milton-louw.blogspot.com/2022/11/unclaimed-monies-newsletter-no-2-of.html 
3. https://milton-louw.blogspot.com/2022/11/unclaimed-monies-newsletter-no-3-of.html 

Due to so much interest in the Unclaimed Monies lists, there is now a form for you to register and see if there is unclaimed money for you.

https://forms.gle/J7r6Cbjnv2gwwY1u9

Unclaimed Monies Newsletter No. 1 of 2022: Namibia Sanlam

Sanlam is looking for the following people for unclaimed monies. Please contact Milton Louw on 081 6881368.

Family Name Given Name Birthdate
/OXURUB Gerson Dawid K 641128
Afrikaner Hileria Hiltikard 621009
AFRIKANER Jakobus 600101
AMADHILA Jonas 640723
AMPWEYA Elaikim Ampweya 600303
AMWAALWA Frans Shikalepo 680610
Andima Marthin 630803
ARESES Aurolia 530221
ARIBEB Ananias 550101
Awaras Maria 541118
BAISAKO Maria 590817
BARTHOLOMEUS Sakaria 630406
Basson Amanda 490623
Basson Lukas 610821
BEUKES Gert 501024
BOCK Maria Wilhelmina 440522
BOOIS Emma 660220
BOOIS Andries 390217
BOOISEN Hendrik 550602
Booys Saul 540404
BRANDT Marthaline 570313
Brandt Hendrik Ludwig 580921
Campbell Magrieta 440503
CHRISTY Callista Fellicita 420403
CLAASEN Calvin Willem 660703
CLOETE Piet Petrus V 580226
DAVID Salomo 550808
DE KLERK Catherine 641105
DE WALDT Rose-Marie 650821
Dirk Salomon 390217
DLAMINI Joseph George 510706
Drotsky Johanna 640311
Du Preez Yvonne Emmerentia 640820
Ekandjo Bertha 490707
Elia Matheus 600323
EMBULA Benhard 430715
ENKALI Lahja Mwejokutsa 590106
FILLEMON Liina 701218
Gaingos Fredrika 550322
GAMISEB Ludwig 470325
Gariseb David 400709
Garises Mirjam 561211
GAROEB Jeremias 580306
GASEB Hulda Maria 560306
Gasekgatle Ingrid 490425
Gidius Johannes 500614
GOAGOSEB Siebelius 631118
GOAGOSEB Sydney Harold 721212
GOODMAN Imelda Josephine 690914
GOWASEB Eric 651009
GUIOS Sofia 510725
HAIMBONDI Cornelia 510521
Haingura Severinus Titus 510611
HAINGURA Adolf 590126
Halute Florence Nomsa 381111
HAMUNYELA Serafina 430709
HAMUNYERA Abner Mbuna 660507
Hango Joel 460414
Hanse Helena 430902
Hanzen Stefanus 540808
HARADOES Rachael 450220
HOAEB Arnold Edward 641224
Horaseb Esekiel 410915
IMMANUEL Hiholiwe Mathias 630830
Ipundaka Jonas 480305
Itana Thomas 550617
ITANA Otilie Ndanyengwa 710514
Jagger Jeremiah Wilfriedt 330929
JANTJIES Christoff 640915
Jantze Jakob 520709
JARMANN Anna Franzina 450528
JAZAMA Alex Hitjevi 540909
Johannes Simon 440228
JOHANNES Andrias 400703
JOHANNES Jakobina Aihe 481106
JOHR Elizabeth 440530
JONAS Jonas Hitewapo 520212
Josef M K 461121
Kakololo Nathanael Tuhafeni 620419
Kale Maria 460303
KAMANYA Elia Hamutenya 570810
KAMBALA Alina Nghinanayo 410807
Kandara Ismail 380402
Kandombo Tylves Nuuyoma 541116
KANGUATUUAKO Lydia 460526
KANGUE Johannes 410319
KAPERE Aaron 530911
KARUKO Fillemon 570602
KARUNGA Theopoline 500722
KASHIHALWA Michael 600906
Kasta Isack 550505
KASUPI Herry Tjitjira 630115
Katenda Sacharia Utsi 591030
KATUMBO Erastus 580707
Katzao Sara 370627
KAUAZUNDA Laurencia 551222
KAULINGE Ndahangelwe 711022
Kereseb Rudolf 560903
Khiba Patrichius 600620
KHUXAS Aplonia 500924
KIDO Willem Dawid 431103
KISTING Susanna 450907
Kisting Elizabeth 480920
KLISTOF Maria 620322
KLUKOWSKI Christina Gertrud 601229
KOERNER Christina Jacoba 560908
Kolz Hans Heinrich 430809
Kolz Hans Heinrich 430809
KOOPMAN Wilhemina 430411
KUDUMO Sebastian Hausiku 670415
Kuhepa Daniel 630719
Kuwa Namwandi 380112
LIEMBANI Annah Tekla 660501
LIFALAZA Veronika 670606
LINKS Cornelius 631104
Majiedt David Severius 680719
Majiedt Petrus Stefanus 560911
MALIMA Teopolina Hambelela 590603
MASANGU Fabian Lifumbela 550609
MATHYS Herman 390424
Maurihungirire Antonius Waunina 510504
MBINDA Leena P 710201
MICHAEL Joseph Shiimbi 580401
Mintoor Gert Jacobus 360326
MOSIMANE Stanislaus 631225
MOUTON Jacobus 400501
Mouton Marthinus Albertus 680520
MULUNDU Petrus 620121
Mundumbu Lukas Karembera 650312
MUNISWASWA David Kamwi 610412
Munjoka Magreth 660114
MURANGI Metha Florence 600131
MURANGI Selestinus 610808
MUREKO Kaireko 661002
MUREMI John Matuku 650202
MURONGA Pius Nseu 630504
MURORUA Adelheid 491118
MURORUA Adelheid 491118
MUSHEBA Francis Lauliso 570607
MUSIMBA Cecilia Nahambo 601212
MUTOTA Jonas Mwatihanye 670303
MUTOTA Joseph Nghindihuno 590604
Muyamba Victor 560426
Nairengen Kauko Johannes A 470929
NAITA Helga 560720
NAMWENYO Fillemon 670102
NANDEINOTYA Abel Shikongo 590606
Nangaku Absalom 620404
NANGOLO Daniel 420910
Nangombe Michael 670801
NANJEMBA Silvester 650801
NAREBEB Petrus 530505
NARIS Locia Veronica 580112
NASHANDI Ottilie 530711
Nashuuta Gideon E 520814
NAUKUSHU Theresia Ndinelao 530410
NCHINDO Josephine Sibeso 690306
NDADI Reino 611016
Ndemongela Erastus Nangolo 690215
NDERURA Kahimbona 630414
NDEVAHOMA Iyaloo Ndinelao 520810
NDIFIKEPO Alfeus 720703
NDJAVERA Gerson Tjitunga 650709
NDUNGULA Johannes David 580405
NEL Magdalena Hedwig 520802
NESHUKU Samuel 590306
NGARUKA Inektia 630101
NGAVIRUE Maria 520705
NGHATANGA Job P 400606
Nghipandwa Olatius 640812
NGHISHIIKO Lukas Johannes 681210
NGUNAIHE Getrud 810805
Olivier Edgar Ellen 431217
OOSTHUIZEN Johannes 551218
OWOSEB Andries 660703
OXURUB Stephanus 581225
Paulo Fernando 560815
Paulus Otto 520211
PETRUS Simeon Mwoonde 621111
PIENAAR Elsie 401224
PLAAITJIES Johannes 520216
Risto Johannes 690630
ROOI Jiems 630707
ROOINASIE Bernhard Heinrich 610622
RUKERO Matheus 500610
SAKEUS Johanna 600830
Saron Lydia Anna 5.3061
SCHASE Marthinus Johannes 660529
SHAALUKENI Thomas Huumbilemo 450306
SHAANIKA Saara Johanna 600805
SHAFASHIKE Ndahambelela 540807
Shamaha Matroni 531113
Shamwel Aili 621012
Shavuka Pascalis Kantalelo 560202
SHELONGO David 390607
Shifafure Remigtius 620525
SHIKONDA Lusia Shimweefupa 600310
SHIKONGO Paulus Nande 740811
SHILIMENTINDI Machal Angula 530804
SHILONGO Theo 620819
SHILULA Tobias Aikokola 520202
Shilumbu Justina 670618
SHINANGOLO Julius Natangwe 650219
Shipanga Fillemon 681123
Shipefi Joel Mandume 610809
SHIPIKI Hendrina Kaxwiki 460406
SHIVANDU Annanias Penda 610808
SHIVANDU Annanias Penda 610808
SHUUYA Thomas 430224
Sigweda Donatus Kamere 440303
SIKUNAWA Ananias 550804
Simon Daniel 630107
Simson Walde 610102
SINGEVE Honratus Hamutenya 630915
Sitentu Daniel 660106
SIYAMBA Lebbeus Haimbili 470819
Skrywer Josefine 510710
SKRYWER Mathilde 610318
Skrywer Anna Magrietha 610222
SLOA Petrina 710620
SNEWE Willemina 660224
SNYDERS Martha Cecilia 591119
SOMSEB Helga 530906
Steenkamp Johanna Franscka 540915
Stefanus Cervasias 610312
Stephanus Matheus S 730803
Stoffberg James Norman 591229
SWARTBOOI Hendrik 440810
TJIHUNO Gerson Twamanuka 530505
TJIKUSERE Thusnelde 470827
TJIPUTE Michael 490704
Tjituka Eliezer 500524
Toivo Johannes 660728
Tutalife Lister Libonina 620125
UATEKA Abraham 600308
UIRAB Ligeon 610711
Ujaha Eva 570417
URI-KHOB Erich 620928
UUNONA Brasius 611001
Van Rensburg Elfrieda Wilhelmine Augasta 630801
VAN WYK Linda Margaret 610915
VAN WYK Gert Edward 380819
VAN WYK Katrina 430920
VAN WYK Gerhard Cornelius 700910
Van Wyk Andries Jacobus 490328
VANYIKA Hilia 620125
Vries Stephanus 581105
Willipardt Julia 640525
WITBOOI Nicholas Patrick 490711
WITBOOI Hendrik 561021
XOAGUB Eduard Paul 660928