Kazakhstan and Czech police dismantle international personal data trafficking network

Kazakh and Czech police have dismantled an international channel used to illegally sell the personal data belonging to citizens from Kazakhstan and neighboring former Soviet republics—known as CIS countries, Kazakhstan’s Interior Ministry announced.

The operation, carried out in coordination with Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee, prosecutors, and Czech law enforcement, followed a lengthy investigation. Searches were conducted simultaneously in Ústí nad Labem in the Czech Republic and in the Kazakh cities of Astana, Almaty, and Karaganda, where investigators seized digital devices and cash.

According to authorities, the group ran a closed online platform that sold access to personal data from Kazakhstan and neighboring states through one-time searches and subscription plans. The network included coordinators, operators who processed requests, and drop accounts used to cash out the proceeds. The suspected organizers were detained while the investigation continues.