Commerce Ministry warns businesses against sharing data on unverified platforms

The Ministry of Commerce has warned commercial establishments, including companies and institutions, against sharing or uploading their business, personal, or financial data on unverified websites and online platforms that claim to store digital identities for businesses. These platforms lack official status, making it impossible to verify their purpose for collecting data or their methods for storing and protecting it.

In an official statement posted on its X (formerly Twitter) account, the ministry stressed the importance of not providing any untrusted party with information such as commercial registration numbers, tax IDs, national addresses, contact details, bank account numbers, IBANs, documents, attachments, or any data that could identify the business or its owner, unless the entity and the purpose for data collection, as well as the legal basis for processing, have been verified.

This warning comes amid a rise in fraudulent websites and platforms claiming to offer various services and requesting users to upload and consolidate multiple types of data in one place. Such practices may expose businesses and individuals to risks of data misuse or sharing with third parties, especially when the platform operator, privacy policy, and intended use of the data are not verified.

The ministry also noted that the use of logos or names suggesting an affiliation with a government entity by some platforms does not in itself prove any official connection.

The Ministry of Commerce urged businesses and individuals to use government services only through official channels and platforms, verify the service provider before entering or uploading any data, and never share passwords, verification codes, or login details for government or bank accounts with any party.

The ministry emphasized that data protection is a shared responsibility, calling on the public to report any suspected commercial or electronic violations through official channels, and to avoid following links or using services that request more information than is necessary to provide the service.

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