This is how citizens' personal data is stolen: Revealed by prosecutor's filing

The arrest of 50 people from a gang that illegally obtained and sold citizens' identity, address, and land registry information has been requested. The prosecutor's referral document stated that the suspects had infiltrated the MERNİS database and other integrated information systems.

In operations coordinated by the Istanbul Anatolian Chief Public Prosecutor's Office's Bureau of Investigation for Forgery, Fraud, and Cybercrimes, and conducted by the Cybercrime Combat Department, individuals who illegally obtained and sold citizens' personal data—including contact, address, land registry, and educational information—on social media platforms for a fee were apprehended and detained in simultaneous operations across 25 provinces.

Of the 68 suspects referred to the Anatolian Courthouse, 50 were sent to the Anatolian Criminal Court of Peace with a request for their arrest.

Four prosecutors were assigned by the Juvenile Crimes Investigation Bureau to take the statements of 35 child suspects involved in the crimes.

The statements of the other suspects were taken by the Anatolian Chief Public Prosecutor's Office's Bureau of Investigation for Forgery, Fraud, and Cybercrimes, which is conducting the investigation.

Of the 68 suspects whose statements were completed, 50 were referred to the duty criminal court of peace with a request for arrest, and 18 were referred with a request for judicial control.

"THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENT OF STATE SECURITY"

The Public Prosecutor's referral document included the following statements:

"To give a current example, when America invaded Iraq in 2003, one of the first things done was to interfere with population and land registry records. In times when population records were not kept in writing, even tombstones constitute important evidence that a state exists or holds rights. Therefore, it is an undeniable fact that population records are one of the fundamental elements of a state's security.

It is obvious that the MERNİS system, where queries are made using citizenship numbers, is an inseparable part of national security. In our assessment regarding how the confidential information was obtained, we believe that if the perpetrator or perpetrators are not just users of the panel system, but are in a position of having established the system and constantly updating the data, the act should also be evaluated in accordance with Articles 244/2 and 244/3 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK)."

The document stated that "the suspects obtained the passwords of authorized users of the Central Population Administration System (MERNİS) database—which must remain confidential for the sake of state security—and other integrated information systems through various means, or obtained the data from individuals who had acquired it through leaks, and then transferred the obtained data to a query screen called a 'panel'." It was noted that they created an illegal query screen and gained unfair profit by uploading it to the internet to earn money and gain reputation in the virtual world.

"THEY HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO EXERT PRESSURE"

The document stated that there are facts indicating strong suspicion that the suspects committed the crimes they are charged with, and that if released, there is a possibility they could exert pressure on witnesses whose names appear in the Digital Forensics Report but against whom no action has yet been taken; therefore, the arrest of the 50 suspects was requested.