IT specialist Samvel Martirosyan told reporters today in Yerevan that Armenia still lacks a culture of protecting personal information and pointed to the website of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) as proof.

The site displays the birthdays, addresses and other information of Armenian voters.

“There is a law regarding the protection of personal information but there is also the Electoral Code which stipulates that such information be publicly accessible. I always cite the example that while women do not divulge their age on Facebook, that info is available in the CEC website, said a half joking Martirosyan.

He also said that the same flawed system permeates the banking system in Armenia and that one can find out what items a person purchased on credit and how much the person borrowed.

In reference to replying to hackers from Azerbaijan, Martirosyan argued that a systematic counter-assault was wrong, although confessing that such periodic counter-measures are needed to show Armenians that we are getting beaten on the virtual battlefield.