The representatives of the National Center for Personal Data Protection (NCPDP) participated in Human Rights and Equality Forum (3^rd edition), which was organized in the context of the International Human Rights Day and held on 10-11 December. The Forum created a unique platform for discussion and exchange of ideas between public institutions, civil society organizations, national and international experts in the field of fundamental human rights and freedoms.

The first day, 10 December, was dedicated to the Human Rights and Equality Forum, with debate sessions and discussions on current topics in the field, such as: digitization and its impact on people in vulnerable groups; protection and promotion the rights of children in alternative care; the situation of the rights of vulnerable persons in public custody, etc. The UN Human Rights Awards were also awarded.

The second day, December 11, was dedicated to celebrating and raising awareness of the importance of respecting human rights. The festival included interactive activities, games, workshops, movie screenings and information stands. In this context, NCPDP representatives set up a stand with educational and informative materials, as well as the promotional items. The general public was informed about the field of personal data protection. Among the topics that were of particular interest were the concept of personal data, the rights of data subjects, data security and confidentiality measures, principles of personal data protection etc. 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.

The event was organized under the initiative of the Office of the People’s Advocate and the Equality Council, with the support of development partners such as UN Agencies and the Council of Europe.

On December 3rd, the National Centre for Personal Data Protection (NCPDP) continued its information and awareness-raising campaign for the school community, organizing two training courses on “Personal Data Protection and Children’s Safety in the Online Environment” for the Public Institution “George Coșbuc” Theoretical High School and the Public Institution “Lucian Blaga” Theoretical High School in Balti. The events took place in the framework of the Personal Development class, the target audience being fourth grade students.

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 in the online environment at local and national level by promoting empowerment and best practices for intervention and support.

Topics covered in the training were: 

• The definition of general notions related to the field of personal data protection (what it means, how to identify it, how to 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 bullying, online harassment, theft of information, situations that threaten the privacy/security of the child and solutions for such situations);

• Communication on social networks, etc.

Students also played interactive games, completed a crossword puzzle based on the material presented and took part in a question-answer round, with the best students being awarded with prizes.

The events were organized at the initiative of the NCPDP, and around 210 students were trained. At the same time, the information materials, as well as the gifts offered to the students, 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, and the NCPDP aims to continue this format of training in schools in Chisinau municipality and in the districts of the Republic of Moldova.

On November 13, 2024, representatives of the National Center for Personal Data Protection organized a training course for representatives of the General Directorate for the Protection of Children’s Rights (DGPDC) of the Chisinau Municipal Council, at their request.

The purpose of the training course was to familiarize the DGPDC officials with the aspects related to personal data protection in the public service, the regulation of processing procedures, the confidentiality and security regime of personal data in accordance with the normative framework.

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 principles and legal grounds for processing personal data; the requirements for the protection of personal data in the exercise of the duties of the office; issues related to the appointment of the Data Protection Officer (DPO); the obligations and tasks of a DPO; issues related to the Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA); the stages and obligation to perform a DPIA, etc.

The training course proved to be a useful and interactive one, and the issues related to the examination of requests for the disclosure of personal data, the term of retention/storage and use of personal data at the end of processing operations, as well as the legality of installing surveillance cameras in children’s placement centers, were of great interest to the representatives attending the course.

During the event, organized in hybrid format, about 165 representatives of the General Directorate for the Protection of Children’s Rights of the Chisinau Municipal Council have been trained.

On November 12, 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 the public institution “Mihai Eminescu” Theoretical Lyceum in Cahul. The event took place in the framework of the Personal Development class, the target audience being the students of classes IV “A”, IV “B” and IV “C”.

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

Topics covered in the training:

• Overview of personal data (what it means, how to identify it, how to operate with it); 

• Attitudes and practices when sharing photos/video online (privacy of a social networking site, privacy settings, working with photos/video 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 harassment, 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, students played interactive games, completed a crossword puzzle based on the material presented and participated in a question-answer round, and the best were awarded with gifts.

The event was organized at the initiative of the NCPDP, and about 80 students 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, and the NCPDP aims to continue this format of training in schools in Chisinau municipality and in the districts of the Republic of Moldova.

On November 12, 2024, the National Center for Personal Data Protection (NCPDP) organized a training course for the representatives of the General Territorial Directorate “South” of the National Anticorruption Center, at their request.

The purpose of the training course, entitled “The legal regime of personal data protection”, was to increase the NAC employees’ awareness of the principles of personal data protection, in order to know and assimilate the best practices in the field, as well as to ensure the correct application of the legal provisions in the activity 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; principles and legal grounds for processing personal data; the 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, the participants asked multiple questions arising from their work, to which they received documented answers with practical examples from the trainers. 

At the same time, we would like to mention that this was the last training course organized for NAC representatives this year, thus, training courses will be organized for the following subdivisions:

October 17 – NAC representatives, headquarters;

October 25 – representatives of the Territorial General Directorate “North” of the NAC;

November 12 – representatives of the NAC Directorate General Territorial “South”.

In this context, about 200 representatives from NAC subdivisions were trained.

On November 11, 2024, the representatives of the National Center for Personal Data Protection (CNPDCP) organized a training course in the field of personal data protection for representatives of the State Tax Service (SFS), at their request.

The purpose of the training course was to familiarize tax officials with aspects related to the protection of personal data in the public service, the regulation of processing procedures, 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 personal data processing; issues related to the appointment of the Data Protection Officer (DPO), as well as the obligations and tasks of a DPO; issues related to the Data Protection Impact Assessment, etc.

The training course was an interactive one. The participants asked the trainers many questions on the legal aspects related to the protection of personal data when exercising their duties. At the same time, access to information of public interest under the personal data protection legislation, the examination of requests for disclosure of personal data, as well as ensuring the security and confidentiality of personal data by FSS employees, were of particular interest to the participants.

About 120 representatives of the State Tax Service were trained during the event.

On 06 November 2024, the National Center for Personal Data Protection (NCPDP) organized a training course in the field of personal data protection for the directors of educational institutions from Chisinau municipality, at the request of the General Directorate of Education, Youth and Sport.

The training course aimed to increase the awareness of the directors of educational institutions on the principles of personal data protection, as well as to strengthen their capacities regarding the processing of personal data in accordance with the legal provisions.

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 principles and legal grounds for processing personal data; the 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 interactive and useful, and the topics related to the legality of installing video surveillance cameras in classrooms, the disclosure of information containing personal data to third parties, as well as the obligation to ensure the confidentiality and security of such data, were of great interest to the participants.

About 170 directors of educational institutions in Chisinau municipality were trained during the event.

On 05 November 2024, representatives of the National Center for Personal Data Protection organized a training course for representatives of the General Directorate of Medical and Social Assistance of the Chisinau Municipal Council, at their request.

The aim of the training course was to familiarize the DGAMS officials with the aspects related to personal data protection in the public service, the regulation of processing procedures, the confidentiality and security regime of personal data in accordance with the normative framework.

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 principles and legal grounds for processing personal data; the requirements for the protection of personal data in the exercise of the duties of the office; issues related to the appointment of the Data Protection Officer (DPO); the obligations and tasks of a DPO; issues related to the Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA); the stages and obligation to perform a DPIA, etc.

The training course proved to be a useful one, participants asking the trainers multiple questions and receiving documented answers with practical examples. At the same time, the issues related to the disclosure of information containing personal data, the analysis carried out by the data controller in terms of access to these data, ensuring the security and confidentiality of personal data processed, the term of retention/storage and use of personal data at the end of the processing operations, as well as legal issues regarding the processing of personal data through video surveillance systems, were of great interest to the representatives of the course.

During the event 25 representatives of the General Directorate of Medical and Social Assistance of the Chisinau Municipal Council were trained.

On 30 – 31 October 2024, the representatives of the National Center for Personal Data Protection (NCPDP) participated in a study visit to the Latvian Data State Inspectorate (Inspectorate), an event organized within the project entitled “Strengthening personal data protection in the Republic of Moldova Phase I”.

The purpose of the study visit was to learn the best legal and operational practices from the representatives of the NCPDP on the certification of Data Protection Officers (DPOs), Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA), as well as to strengthen data protection mechanisms by aligning them with European standards and practices.

During the event, the Director of the Inspectorate, Jekaterina Macuka, presented the main tasks/activities of the institution, its role in promoting the field of personal data protection in Latvia, highlighting the challenges and opportunities in the field of personal data protection of both countries, as well as the continued cooperation and exchange of best practices.

During the two days, topics of importance were addressed, such as:

• Data Protection Officer certification: the purpose of DPO certification, who issues DPO certifications, who can apply to receive a DPO certification, what is the feedback from different stakeholders on these DPO certifications, etc.

• Presentation of the DPO certification scheme: conception, development and introduction of DPO certification: experiences, failures, successes and lessons learned;

• Privacy Impact Assessment in Latvia: how a DPIA is conducted, who is obliged to conduct a DPIA, the necessity of conducting a DPIA, training of other persons such as employees of public authorities on issues related to the privacy of personal data, etc.

The study visit was organized with the support of the Council of Europe Data Protection Unit and the Latvian State Data Inspectorate.

On October 30, 2024, the National Center for Personal Data Protection (NCPDP) organized a training course in the field of personal data protection for the directors of early education institutions in Chisinau municipality, at the request of the General Directorate of Education, Youth and Sport.

The training course aimed to increase the awareness of the directors of early childhood education institutions on the principles of personal data protection, as well as to familiarize them with the confidentiality and security of personal data in accordance with the provisions of the legislation in force.

The event discussed topics of importance such as:

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

• Principles of personal data processing;

• Rights of personal data subjects; 

• Processing of special categories of personal data; 

• Legal grounds for processing personal data; 

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

• Examination of requests for disclosure of personal data;

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

The training course proved to be an interactive one, with the participants asking multiple questions, based on the work they had carried out, to which they received documented answers with practical examples from the trainers. At the same time, the topics related to the disclosure of information containing personal data to third parties, the legality of installing video surveillance systems in kindergartens, as well as the possible negative consequences of publishing children’s photos/video recordings online were of great interest to the participants.

During the event, about 150 directors of early education institutions in Chisinau were trained.