The 2011 Slovenian YouTube affair was the publication of several clips of the recordings of closed sessions of the Government of Slovenia on the video-sharing website YouTube on 1 December 2011.[1] The recordings were published under the title Stari obrazi (Old Faces) by someone who signed himself as stariobrazi (oldfaces).[2][1] The publication happened during the term of the Prime Minister Borut Pahor, just before the early Slovenian 2011 parliamentary election on 4 December. The recordings did not influence the election. Pahor had been notified about them by the Slovenian Intelligence and Security Agency (SOVA) on 2 December.[3]
The published recordings were made in the terms of governments led by Janez Janša (2004–2008) and Borut Pahor (2008–2011). Darijan Košir, the director of the Government Communication Office (UKOM), explained for the newspaper Delo that since 2006, all government sessions, including the closed ones, were recorded in audio and video.[4] Božo Predalič, the secretary-general of the Government of Slovenia from 2004 till 2008, added that government sessions were recorded already during the term of Tone Rop (2002−2004). According to Predalič, the recordings had been published by someone who would had benefited from this.[5][6] The recordings were stored on DVDs and locked in a safe available only to authorised personnel.[7]
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On 8 December, the Slovenian government demanded the removal of the recordings from YouTube. On 9 December in the evening, when the publication was reported for the first time by media, there were three clips remaining of the allegedly original five although none had been removed by the host.[3] YouTube had removed the recordings on 15 December 2011, after a lawsuit threat.[8] However, on the same day they appeared again, albeit shorter.[9] They were removed again in less than 24 hours. The new recordings were published by users who downloaded them after they have been found by media. The original perpetrator as well as the reuploaders were unknown.[2][3][8]
On 9 December, it was reported that the Slovenian Police had started investigation about the recordings.[10] On 14 December, Darijan Košir explained that in 2006, government areas were renovated.[4] He told that the works on Gregorčičeva 25 were carried out by the construction company SCT, and the computer infrastructure was set up by companies ADM and TSE. He also told that all the people with access to the data were thoroughly checked.
On 14 December, Delo reported that there were very serious circumstantial evidences that all government sessions, including the closed ones, were recorded twice during the terms of Janša and Pahor, as someone presumably had connected their own cables to cameras, mounted under dropped ceiling.[4] Matjaž Klančar, the editor in chief of the computer magazine Monitor, labeled that the explanation was too complex to be believable and that more probably the passwords to access the data were available to unauthorized people or had been misused. 24ur.com reported that numerous computer experts confirmed to them it was possible that the perpetrator had had access to all the data of the Slovenian public administration, including the most highly classified ones. The Police had neither confirmed nor denied the information.[5]
On 15 December, TSE denied having spotted any anomalies in the computer system since it had been installed. They told that all their employees were checked and that they never received any instruction that would allow for an illegal access. The recorded sessions were hold on Gregorčič Street (Gregorčičeva ulica) 20 and the recording room was at Gregorčič Street 25. The buildings were connected with 200 metres of cable. There were several points at which the system could be abused. They also pointed out that the Government was responsible for the security of the system after it had been taken over. The telephone number of ADM was unavailable.[9][6]
Marjan Miklavčič, an expert in intelligence services and a lecturer at the University of Maribor, compared the publication to WikiLeaks, warned that the incident could cause a drop of the credit rating of Slovenia and accused Borut Pahor to be objectively responsible for it. He particularly stressed that it was not known which data had been stolen and whether they could be used for extortion.[10] Iztok Prezelj, who lectures on defence studies, including intelligence, at the University of Ljubljana, stated on 15 December 2011 that the publication showed a parallel state to exist in Slovenia. He ascribed the publication to Slovenian intelligence services or to someone outside the incumbent government. A penetration into the security circle had happened, most probably with help from the inside.[11] The following day, Miklavčič confirmed that all the data available publicly indicate the thesis about the parallel state to be correct. He explained that the security services of the Government had not performed the security checkup of the government areas that should had been done every six months.[12]