On 9 August 2024, the National Center for Personal Data Protection organized two training courses in the field of personal data protection for the representatives of the Territorial Social Insurance House (CTAS), at the request of the National Social Insurance House.

The purpose of the training course was to increase the CTAS employees’ awareness of the principles of personal data protection, as well as to familiarize them with the confidentiality and security regime of personal data in accordance with the provisions of the legislation in force.

During the event, important topics were discussed, such as: the definition of general notions related to the field of personal data protection; the rights of personal data subjects; the processing of special categories of personal data; principles and legal grounds for processing personal data; the requirements for the protection of personal data in the exercise of their duties; ensuring the security and confidentiality of personal data by CTAS employees; issues related to the appointment of the Data Protection Officer; issues related to the Data Protection Impact Assessment, etc.

The training course proved to be interactive, and the topics related to the disclosure of information containing personal data, as well as the analysis carried out by the data controller (CNAS), in terms of access to these data, the term of storage and use of personal data at the end of processing operations, as well as ensuring technical and organizational measures in accordance with the provisions of the legislation in the field, were of great interest to the participants.

About 165 CTAS representatives from Chisinau, Anenii Noi, Ialoveni, Causeni, Hâncesti and Stefan Voda municipalities were trained during the events, which took place both in person and online.

The training courses are part of the training plan within the CNAS structural subdivisions for the year 2024, approved and signed by the heads of NCPDP and CNAS on July 08.

On August 13, 2024, the National Center for Personal Data Protection organized a training course in the field of personal data protection for the employees of the Center for Strategic Communication and Combating Disinformation (the Center), at their request.

The aim of the training course was to increase the awareness of the Center’s employees on the principles of personal data protection, as well as to familiarize them with the confidentiality and security regime of personal data in accordance with the provisions of the legislation in force.

During the event, important topics were discussed, such as:

– Definition of general notions related to the field of personal data protection:;

– The rights of personal data subjects;

– Processing of special categories of personal data;

– Principles and legal grounds for processing personal data;

– Requirements for the protection of personal data in the exercise of official duties;

– Ensuring the security and confidentiality of personal data processed, etc.

The training course proved to be an interactive one. Participants asked multiple questions, based on the work they do, to which they received documented answers with practical examples from the trainers.

Employees of the Center for Strategic Communication and Combating Disinformation were trained during the event.

On August 14, 2024, representatives of the National Center for Personal Data Protection, organized a training course in the field of personal data protection for representatives of the Buiucani Police Inspectorate (PI).

The aim of the course was to increase the level of awareness of Buiucani PI employees on the principles of personal data protection, as well as on ensuring the correct application of the legal provisions in the field of work they perform.

During the event have been discussed topics of importance such as:

• Definition of general concepts related to the field of personal data protection;
• Rights of personal data subjects;
• Processing of special categories of personal data;
• Principles and legal grounds for processing personal data;
• The lawful way of processing personal data in the activity carried out by the representatives of Buiucani PI;
• Obligations of Buiucani PI in relation to the data subject;
• Ensuring the security and confidentiality of personal data processed, etc.

The training course proved to be an interactive one, and the topics related to the correct procedure for accessing personal data through the State Information Systems, the records kept by Buiucani PI, the procedure for granting access to these data to third parties, as well as the term of storage and use of personal data at the end of the processing operations, were of great interest to the representatives at the course.

About 60 representatives of the Buiucani Police Inspectorate were trained during the event.

The training course is part of the training plan within the GPI subdivisions for the year 2024, approved and signed by the heads of the NCPDP and the GPI on January 26 this year.

On August 21, 2024, representatives of the National Center for Personal Data Protection organized a training course in the field of personal data protection for representatives of the Botanica Police Inspectorate (PI).

        The purpose of the course was to increase the awareness of Botanica PI employees on the principles of personal data protection, as well as on ensuring the correct application of the legal provisions in the field, in the activity they perform.

Within the event, important topics were discussed, such as: the definition of general notions related to the field of personal data protection; the rights of personal data subjects; the processing of special categories of personal data; the principles and legal grounds for processing personal data; the legal manner of processing personal data in the activity carried out by the representatives of IP Botanica; ensuring the security and confidentiality of personal data processed, etc.

The training course turned out to be an interactive one, and the topics related to the correct procedure of accessing personal data through the State Information Systems for the purpose of identification of persons who do not have identity documents, the examination of requests for disclosure of personal data, as well as the legal aspects of processing personal data through video surveillance systems, were of great interest to the representatives attending the course.

About 60 representatives of Botanica Police Inspectorate were trained during the event. 

The training course is part of the 2024 training plan in the subdivisions of the GIP for 2024, approved and signed by the heads of the NCPDP and the GPI on January 26 this year.

On 10 July this year, the National Centre for Personal Data Protection (NCPDP) continued the information and awareness-raising campaign for the school community, organizing the training course “Personal data protection and children’s safety in the online environment” for pupils from the Republican Centre for Children and Youth “Artico” in Chisinau. 

The aim of the information and awareness-raising campaign for the school community is to provide high visibility on personal data protection and children’s safety online at local and national level by promoting empowerment and best practices for intervention and support.

Topics covered in the training covered: 

Getting to grips with personal data (what it means, how we identify it, how we operate with it); 

Attitudes and practices when sending photos/videos online (the privacy of a social networking site, privacy settings, working with photos/videos in a chat room, attitudes and actions to take in case an image/video is taken without your consent and distributed later);

Risks and threats in the online environment (malware, spam, online harassment, online bullying, theft of information, situations that threaten a child’s privacy/security and solutions for such situations); Communication on social networks, etc.

At the same time, the trainers from the NCPDP carried out interactive activities, discussions were held on the basis of the information materials presented, video spots were shown and, at the end, students completed a crossword based on the material presented and participated in a question-answer round. All children were rewarded with prizes.

The event was organized in the context of the celebration of 16 years of NCPDP’s activity and 53 pupils were trained. At the same time, the information materials and the gifts given to the pupils were developed with the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

It should be noted that the information and awareness-raising campaign for the school community was launched on April 15, 2022. During this year alone, around 400 pupils have been trained. The NCPDP aims to continue this format of trainings for school communities both in schools in the Chisinau municipality and in the districts of the Republic of Moldova.

On July 10, 2024, the National Center for Personal Data Protection (the Center) organized the meeting of the Consultative Council of the National Center for Personal Data Protection, in the context of the celebration of the 16 years of activity of the institution.

The meeting was opened and chaired by Ms. Victoria MUNTEAN, Director of the NCPDP, and President of the Consultative Council.

During the event, important topics were discussed such as:

• Brief presentation of the results of the work for the period 2023;
• State of play regarding the harmonization of the national legal framework with the EU acquis in the field of personal data protection;
• Issues concerning access to personal data stored in state information resources, etc.

The Council meeting took place in an interactive manner, the members of the Council concluding that national legislative harmonization with the acquis communautaire is necessary both to maintain the upward trend of personal data protection and not to allow a regression of the field, and to ensure a genuine respect for the rights of personal data subjects, as well as a legally secure territory for personal data controllers. The Republic of Moldova must have balanced and clear rules, without deviating from the European regulatory framework in this area, a broad legislative framework for the protection of personal data, and all areas of activity, such as justice, medical, banking, social protection, economic, etc. interfere with the field of personal data protection. Similarly, the need to strengthen the institutional capacities of the NCPDP was also mentioned, in particular as a result of the increasing workload and the increasingly diversified specificity of personal data processing methods.

At the end, the members of the Consultative Council appreciated the efforts of the Center in terms of the results accumulated over the period of its activity and outlined the need to continue working together at the institutional level in order to develop effective mechanisms for the protection of personal data in the Republic of Moldova.

On July 10, the National Center for Personal Data Protection (NCPDP) celebrates 16 years of activity. During these 16 years, the institution has made considerable progress, contributing to the protection of citizens’ privacy and ensuring compliance with the legislation on the protection of personal data. 

The NCPDP, as an autonomous public authority, independent and impartial in relation to other public authorities, natural and legal persons, informs that its objective remains the same – the protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals, in particular the right to privacy in relation to the processing and transborder transmission of personal data.

In order to achieve the basic objective, the NCPDP continues and amplifies the actions to sensitize the society on the importance of personal data protection, both from the perspective of respect/knowledge of the data subjects’ rights and ensuring the exercise of the obligations of personal data controllers; contributes to raising the level of correct interpretation and consistent application of the legal provisions in the field of personal data protection by the actors involved in the processing of personal data, including by ensuring the balance between the legal provisions related to the rights of access to information, freedom of expression and personal data protection and sensitizes development partners in the realization of joint projects, in order to ensure the adequate level of personal data protection in the Republic of Moldova.

Therefore, during its 16 years of activity, the NCPDP has continued to monitor and verify the compliance of the processing of personal data by public and private sector operators by carrying out checks on the basis of complaints from personal data subjects and self-reports to the authority, following complaints received for examination, including from public authorities/institutions.

At the same time, more and more petitions from personal data subjects are coming to the NCPDP, and developments in recent years demonstrate this. The most frequent themes reflected in the complaints are:

• Processing personal data without the data subject’s consent and/or legal basis;

• Processing of personal data through video/audio surveillance systems;

• Processing personal data by disclosure on social media; 

• Realizing the rights of personal data subjects (access, information, intervention, objection), etc.

At the same time, the field of personal data protection continues to be promoted by strengthening international collaboration – a strategic aspect, being materialized through the active participation of representatives of the NCPDP at the plenary meetings of the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) and the Council of Europe. It is worth mentioning that the Republic of Moldova has been an observer member of the EDPB since 2017, and the acceptance of the Republic of Moldova as a member with observer status is a premiere and a major achievement in the Eastern space, being an important step towards the recognition of the Republic of Moldova as a third state ensuring an equivalent level of personal data protection to that of the EU.

In the same way, during the 16 years of our activity, 19 cooperation agreements were concluded at national level (National Social Insurance House, General Inspectorate of Border Police, General Inspectorate of Police, National Institute of Justice, Union of Lawyers of the Republic of Moldova, ULIM, Department of Penitentiary Institutions, Academy of Public Administration, National Association of Information Technology and Communications Companies, etc. ) and 10 at international level (bilateral Cooperation Agreements with the Data Protection Authorities of Romania, Ukraine, Italy, Hungary, Georgia, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Italy, Latvia, Malta and Romania), which allows us to have a faster and more efficient collaboration with our partners.

The NCPDP, as a personal data protection authority, will continue its mission to ensure a fair balance between the right to protection of personal data and the rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, and will strive to achieve further progress in promoting and strengthening the field of personal data protection.

On July 10, the National Center for Personal Data Protection (NCPDP) celebrates 16 years of activity. It is 16 years since NCPDP obtained the status of autonomous public authority, independent from other public authorities, natural and legal persons, the objective of which is – the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons, in particular the right to privacy in relation to the processing and transborder transmission of personal data.

On the occasion of this day, the institution organizes specific activities to raise awareness and promote best practices in privacy and data protection. These activities include street actions addressed to the general public to inform and sensitize them to the field of personal data protection.

In this context, on July 9, several employees of the NCPDP distributed to passers-by, in front of the Triumphal Arch in mun. Chisinau, information materials, informing them about the concept of personal data, the rights of data subjects, data security and confidentiality measures, as well as about the principles of personal data protection. At the same time, citizens were informed about possible situations of non-compliant processing of personal data and were given practical guidance and recommendations that should be taken in such cases.

In the current year, the NCPDP aims to organize several information and awareness-raising activities for the general public in order to educate, motivate and encourage Moldovan citizens to pay more attention to the protection of personal data concerning them.

Recognizing the need to inform, promote and ensure the protection of the rights of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data, as well as the need for joint efforts to implement these values, on July 8, 2024, the National Center for Personal Data Protection (NCPDP), represented by the Director Victoria MUNTEAN and the National Social Insurance House (NSIH), represented by the Director General Elena ȚÎBÎRRNĂ, signed the Training Plan in the field of personal data protection for employees of the structural subdivisions of NSIH.

The primary goal established by the Training Plan mentioned above is to increase the awareness of the employees within the NSIH structural subdivisions on the principles of personal data protection and on ensuring the correct implementation/application of the legal provisions in the field of data protection in their daily work. The training plan has been developed and approved by mutual agreement and provides for hybrid (offline/online) training in the NSIH structural subdivisions.

At the same time, we mention that strengthening inter-institutional collaboration at the national level in order to increase the awareness of the society on the importance of personal data protection, as well as raising the level of correct interpretation and application of the legal provisions in the field of personal data protection by the actors involved in the processing of personal data, remains one of the priorities of the NCPDP, and, only during 2024, collaboration agreements were concluded with two other state institutions, such as the General Inspectorate of Police, General Inspectorate of Border Police.

The training plan mentioned above is also part of the activities planned to be organized in the context of the celebration of the 16 years of activity of NCPDP.

On June 28, 2024, the National Center for Personal Data Protection (NCPDP) organized a training course in the field of personal data protection for the employees of the “South” Patrol Directorate of the National Public Security Inspectorate (INSP).

The aim of the training course was to increase the awareness of the employees of the “South” Patrol Directorate of INSP on the principles of personal data protection and on ensuring the correct application of the legal provisions in the field in the work they perform.

During the event, important topics were discussed, such as: the definition of general notions related to the field of personal data protection; the rights of personal data subjects; the processing of special categories of personal data; the legal way of processing personal data in the activity carried out by police bodies; the requirements for the protection of personal data in the exercise of their duties; the obligations of the police body as data controller in relation to the data subject; ensuring the security and confidentiality of personal data processed, etc.

The training course proved to be very useful and interactive. The trainers from the NCPDP provided practical answers to the many questions asked by the participants. At the same time, the issues related to the correct procedure for accessing personal data through the State Information Systems, the correct audit trail of such accesses, as well as the examination of requests for disclosure of personal data, were of great interest to the participants.

About 60 representatives of the INSP “South” Patrol Directorate were trained during the event.

The training course is part of the training plan of the GIP subdivisions for 2024, approved and signed by the heads of the NCPDP and the GIP on January 26 , 2024.