The European Parliament is being investigated by the European Data Protection Supervisor after allegations that its COVID testing website didn’t meet EU privacy standards. Six members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have worked with data watchdog group noyb to bring the complaint, saying that the site illegally sent data to the US and that its cookie banners were deceptive.

The website was set up to help MEPs schedule COVID tests, and while it didn’t handle any health information itself, sending data to the US for processing would still be illegal. According to the complaint, the testing website made over 150 requests to third parties, including Google and Stripe. Under EU law, data can only be transferred to the US if “an adequate level of protection for the personal data [can] be ensured,” and noyb argues that the companies “clearly fall under relevant US surveillance laws that allow [targeting of] EU citizens.”

The complaint also alleges that the cookie banners on the site didn’t disclose all of the cookies that would be stored on the user’s computer, and that the banners prodded users toward the “Accept All” button. Since cookies are used to track users across websites, and some of the ones found were from the aforementioned US companies, it’s understandable that EU regulators might be caught off guard.

According to Reuters, the European Data Protection Supervisor started investigating the site back in October, following other complaints from MEPs. A spokesperson said that the information from noyb was “of direct relevance to this complaint [and would] be examined thoroughly.”

EU privacy laws can sometimes be hard for web developers to grasp, but most web developers aren’t under direction of the lawmakers themselves. Creation of the site was contracted out to a third-party company, but you’d hope that there was a specification for “follows all EU privacy laws” included in the brief.

Speaking to Reuters, noyb’s chairman Max Schrems said EU institutions like the parliament “have to lead by example,” and it seems that, in this instance, they haven’t lived up to that responsibility.

The foreign ministries of Armenia and Artsakh on Friday separately welcomed the European Parliament’s condemnation of Azerbaijan for war crimes and Turkey for its role in aiding Baku in its aggression against Artsakh by, among other things, deploying Islamic jihadists to the war zone.

The two offices also welcomed the European Parliaments commitment to address the humanitarian crisis that has developed because of the war, including its insistence that POWs be returned to Armenia.

“There are a number of important provisions enshrined in the report-resolutions adopted by the European Parliament, which are related to the Azerbaijani aggression against Artsakh and Turkey’s involvement in it, the committed war crimes, as well as the steps to be undertaken to eliminate the consequences of the aggression, especially to address humanitarian issues,” said Anna Naghdalyan, the spokesperson of Armenia’s Foreign Ministry on Friday in response to a reporter’s question.

“We particularly emphasize that the European Parliament not only condemned the war crimes, including the targeting of civilian population and infrastructure, places of worship, but also stressed that these crimes should not remain unpunished. We agree with the European Parliament’s call for Turkey to refrain from any intervention in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, including offering military support to Azerbaijan, and to desist from its destabilizing actions. In this context, it is especially important that the European Parliament has also condemned the fact that Turkey transferred foreign terrorist fighters from Syria and elsewhere to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone,” added Naghdalyan.

The spokesperson hailed the European Parliament’s efforts to advance humanitarian assistance, emphasize the need to return POWs and protect Armenian cultural sites from destruction.

“We would like to stress the importance of the efforts of international community, in the form of such resolutions, to contribute to the elimination of the causes and consequences of the war, which in accordance to the resolution, supposes the lasting settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the determination of the future legal status of Artsakh on the basis of the Basic Principles proposed by the Co-Chairs. As it was once again emphasized by this respective international body, right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination and security lies at the basis of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” added Naghdalyan.

The Artsakh Foreign Ministry issued a statement, in which it highlighted the European Parliament’s commitment to ensuring the security of the people of Artsakh and providing due condemnation of Azerbaijan’s war crimes, including the use of cluster bombs against civilian targets and deploying poisonous gas in its attacks.

“We share the assessments of the European Parliament related to the events caused by the use of military force by Azerbaijan, as well as the ways out of this situation. In particular, we consider it important to stress the viewpoint of the European Parliament on the need to ensure the security of the Armenian population in Nagorno Karabakh, to preserve the Armenian cultural heritage, to ensure the safe return of internally displaced persons and refugees to their former places of residence, and to exchange the prisoners of war and the bodies of the deceased without delay,” said the Artsakh Foreign Ministry.

“We acknowledge the importance of duly investigating all the alleged war crimes and bringing those responsible to justice. It is noteworthy that the European Parliament also specifically called for an international investigation into the alleged presence of foreign fighters, terrorists and the use of cluster munitions and phosphorus bombs,” said the foreign ministry announcement. “We welcome the European Parliament’s support for the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen for a comprehensive settlement of the conflict founded on the Basic Principles proposed by the international mediators.”

“We join the European Parliament’s condemnation of the destabilizing role of Turkey, which seeks to undermine the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group for the sake of its ambitions of playing a more decisive role in the conflict settlement process,” added Stepanakert.

“We share the view of the European Parliament that a lasting settlement has not been found yet We are convinced that a comprehensive and just settlement of the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict can be achieved on the basis of the recognition of the right to self-determination realized by the people of Artsakh and the de-occupation of the territories of the Republic of Artsakh,” said the Artsakh Foreign Ministry.