On January 28 Data Protection Day is celebrated

The year 2021 marks 40 years since the adoption, in 1981, in Strasbourg, of Convention 108 for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data.

The Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data represents an international instrument that engages responsibility and protects individuals from abuses that may occur during data collection and processing, and raises the task of regulating the cross-border data flows.

The Republic of Moldova signed this Convention 108 on May 4, 1998 and ratified it by the Parliament Decision No. 483-XIV of July 2, 1999, and it is in force in our country since June 1, 2008. The Republic of Moldova has designated the National Center for Data Protection with Personal Character as a competent authority for the implementation of the provisions of the Convention and for maintaining relations of mutual assistance with other Parties.

In this context, the National Center for Personal Data Protection (Center) informs that the objective of the authority remains the same – informing data subjects about their rights and holding personal data controllers responsible for complying with the relevant legislation.

The retrospective of the year 2020 indicates the following basic aspects in the activity of the Personal Data Protection Authority:

The Center examined 833 complaints submitted by individuals – subjects of personal data, i.e. 12% more compared to the previous year. Most complaints concerned the following topics:

– realization of the rights of personal data subjects (access, information, intervention, opposition),

– processing of personal data through video / audio surveillance systems,

– processing of personal data stored in various state information resources, etc.

During 2020, the Center examined 1472 notifications submitted for registration in the Register of evidence of personal data controllers, both personal data controllers and filing systems stored in automated and / or manual form in which personal data are processed.

Regarding the control of compliance of personal data processing with the requirements of the Law on personal data protection, in 2020, more than 300 control materials were initiated and examined, both based on complaints of personal data subjects, notifications / self-notifications , as well as on the basis of requests for authorization of the cross-border transmission of personal data.

Even though 2020 was a year of challenges, emerging from the global pandemic situation, the Center sought to focus on strengthening bilateral and multilateral relations with external partners, both within international organizations and individually. To achieve this, the Centre’s staff participated in the working meetings of the European Data Protection Board and the plenary meetings of the Council of Europe. At the same time, during 2020, the Center applied and obtained the support from the TAIEX Project – on the organization of the workshop: “Processing and protection of personal data in the field of public health, in the context of possible global challenges! (COVID-19 pandemic) ”. This event is currently taking place in online format (January 26-28).

In terms of training, the Center held multiple working meetings with representatives of public and private institutions on issues related to: assistance in developing codes of conduct in various areas of activity, examination of sectoral laws, guidance and consulting, etc. At the same time, the representatives of the Center organized trainings attended by about 500 people both from Chisinau and from the districts of the Republic of Moldova.