Former Alberta NDP MLA faces fines after vaccine passport website hack
Posted Jun 16, 2022 5:41 pm.
Last Updated Jun 17, 2022 3:24 pm.
A former Alberta New Democrat MLA says an investigation into his attempt to show gaps in the COVID-19 vaccination record website is complete and he will not face criminal charges.
MLA Thomas Dang says he will instead be fined under the Health Information Act and is excited to put the matter behind him.
Dang stepped down from the NDP caucus when charges were laid in December 2021. He has been sitting in the house as an Independent but says he wants to return to caucus.
In March 2022, he shared the details of what exactly he did to show weaknesses with the province’s vaccine passport website. He used his background in computer science to follow through on suggestions that the government’s first iteration of the website was vulnerable to security issues and the possibility that people could obtain the vaccine records of other Albertans.
He said after several unsuccessful attempts to breach through the system, Dang programmed some code over a couple of hours that would randomly generate health care card numbers while using a device to mask his IP address so he wouldn’t get kicked out of the website.
Then, as a base for the search, he chose two pieces of public information to add to the website and narrow it down. For this, Dang used Premier Jason Kenney’s birthday and date of first vaccination.
Dang says he immediately notified Alberta Health Services of the system flaw so it could be amended. He resigned from the NDP caucus while the RCMP conducted an investigation.
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NDP leader Rachel Notley, when asked in Calgary, said she was not aware of the development but would get more information and discuss it with the caucus and party.
The UCP says the fine proves what Dang did was wrong and he shouldn’t be allowed back into the NDP caucus.
–With files from Mark Strashok
