The Ministry of Justice denied claims of real data leaks during testing of the e-notary system and emphasized that the responsibility for maintaining notarial secrecy lies with notaries.
The Ministry of Justice denied claims of real data leaks during testing of the e-notary system and emphasized that the responsibility for maintaining notarial secrecy lies with notaries.
According to the «Sudovo-Yurydychna Gazeta», the Ministry of Justice responded to a recent statement by the Notarial Chamber of Ukraine (NPU). In an open letter, the NPU stated that during the testing of the training version of e-notary services, testers had access to data from the Unified Register of Powers of Attorney and the Inheritance Register. It even included copies of certified wills, which, according to the NPU, constitutes a gross violation of the law.
The department responded by stating that the system operates in a closed test environment and that only active notaries who work with these registers on a daily basis have access to it. The Ministry of Justice recalled that the obligation to maintain notarial secrecy applies to them regardless of whether it is a matter of industrial use or a test phase.
At the same time, the agency did not specify whether the same obligations apply to other participants in the process: technical staff, developers, donors, and representatives of territorial authorities who participated in the testing. It was this gap that became the main complaint of the NPU, which warned about the potential risks of unauthorized access to sensitive data.
The Ministry of Justice stated that after receiving proposals from notaries, they will begin the stage of finalizing the system, after which the training and testing period will be resumed.
E-notary services are considered one of the key reforms in the field of digitalization of services. According to the plan of the Ministry of Digital Affairs and the Ministry of Justice, it should reduce the time for notarial actions and provide citizens with convenient online access. At the same time, the scandal with access to real data in the test version raises questions about the level of cyber protection and legal guarantees.
Previously, dev.ua wrote about how Ukrainian startup OneNotary, which provides online notarization services, announced the closing of a $5 million Series A round and the start of a partnership with DocuSign.
