🇱🇰 CIABOC Opens Pandora's Box: Your Wealth Is Now Everyone's Business!

⭕ CIABOC has opened public access to asset declarations covering nearly 160,000 individuals, including public servants, members of the armed forces, newspaper editors and other legally required declarants, despite the Government's earlier assurance that privacy safeguards would be introduced for non-political declarants.

⭕ If you are a public servant, a member of the armed forces, a newspaper editor, or anyone else legally required to submit an asset declaration, your personal financial information will now be accessible to anyone through CIABOC's public portal, with limited redactions.

⭕ Don’t be surprised if your neighbour suddenly knows how much you earn, what you own, how much gold and jewellery your family possesses, how much money you have in the bank, or even whom you have lent money to. Much of this information is now accessible to anyone who registers on CIABOC’s public portal.

⭕ In August, Minister Bimal Rathnayake informed Parliament that the Government intended to retain public access to politicians' asset declarations while introducing privacy protections for other declarants, citing concerns over harassment and misuse of published information. However, despite the Anti-Corruption (Amendment) Bill being passed on 8 October, the promised distinction has not been meaningfully reflected in public access arrangements.

⭕ In the worst-case scenario, CIABOC may have inadvertently created a convenient database for criminals. Information about gold, jewellery, property and bank balances could help burglars identify potential targets, while exposing public servants and their families to risks of extortion, intimidation and even kidnapping.

⭕ Unlike senior political figures, ordinary public servants generally have no personal security arrangements. Nor can the Government realistically provide such protection to every public servant if required. They are ordinary citizens, often earning relatively modest government salaries, with families and personal lives to protect.

⭕ Not every asset represents unexplained wealth. Inherited property, family contributions, legitimate gifts, donations and decades of savings can all form part of a person's declaration. Publishing these details without context invites unnecessary speculation, harassment and potentially malicious accusations. Transparency requirements should be proportionate to the level of public responsibility and authority exercised.

⭕ Routine public disclosure should primarily focus on politicians, departmental heads, senior management and officials exercising substantial financial, procurement or regulatory authority. Other officers' declarations should remain fully accessible to CIABOC for verification and lawful investigation, without necessarily being published for unrestricted public scrutiny.

⭕ The Government's approach to amending the Anti-Corruption Act of 2023 has been disappointing, with several proposed provisions facing constitutional objections in the Supreme Court. More importantly, the failure to establish a sensible framework under Section 88(1), clearly defining which asset declaration details should be made public and to what extent, has resulted in an avoidable situation that raises serious concerns about privacy and personal security.

⭕ A legal obligation to declare assets to an anti-corruption authority should not automatically mean an identical obligation to publish those assets on the internet for everyone. The Government and CIABOC should introduce stronger, proportionate redactions, making use of the privacy protections considered constitutionally permissible in the Supreme Court's determination.

Transparency is essential to fighting corruption. However, the current disclosure framework, without adequate privacy and security safeguards, risks doing more harm than good.

Take a look at what's out there: https://t.co/2uc82UzMib