Turkish authorities blocked access to websites hosting the file and initiated investigations. However, once a file is released on the internet, it is impossible to fully retract (the "Streisand Effect"). The incident served as a catalyst for the , which was enacted shortly after the leak to bring Turkey's data privacy standards closer to the EU's GDPR.
: The Associated Press partially verified the data by matching 8 out of 10 non-public ID numbers against names in the database. mernis.tar.gz