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Proposals of Amending the Law on Protection of Personal Data is in the Attention of Civil Society

13 October 2017
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În Moldova
The National Center for the Protection of Personal Data (NCPPD) has prepared several proposals on amending the laws related to protection of personal data. A special section in the Center’s proposal is dedicated to the relation between processing of personal data and freedom of expression. The document is at the stage of public consultations and it was presented on Thursday, October 12, at the meeting of the working subgroup “Access to Information and Personal Data Protection,” created under the parliamentary group working on improvement of media legislation.

According to the amendments proposed by the NCPPD, personal data can be processed without the consent of the subject of such data if processing is done for the purposes of journalism, science, art or literature. The article titled “Processing of Personal Data and Freedom of Expression” stipulates that such processing refers to “data that have been made public voluntarily and overtly by the subject of personal data or to data that are closely related to the public nature of the subject of personal data or to the public nature of the facts in which he/she is involved, under the Law on Freedom of Expression.”

Also, according to NCPPD’s proposal, operators, authorized persons and third parties must provide information upon request within up to 15 working days.

Sergiu Bozianu, deputy head of NCPPD, explained that until now this deadline of reply to personal data processing requests was not stipulated in the law. At the same time, in his opinion the deadline of 15 days could be changed, because in some cases operators can provide information sooner, while in other cases this procedure requires more time.

Furthermore, according to the proposal, processing done for journalistic purposes can be performed so as to ensure balance between the right to protection of personal data, freedom of expression and access to information.

The authors of the document also propose that journalists be allowed to disseminate only the personal data that are of public interest, provided they do not prejudice the protection of subjects of personal data and do not endanger their physical and mental security.

In May 2017 the Independent Journalism Center’s experts produced the study titled “Personal Data Protection Vs. Freedom of Expression and Information”, where they drew attention to the gaps in the enforcement of the Law on Personal Data Protection. Thus, the author of the study, lawyer Tatiana Puiu, noted that authorities often interpret the provisions of the Law on Protection of Personal Data in a restrictive manner.

The expert also found that some provisions of this law are contrary to media legislation, especially to the Law on Access to Information and the Law on Freedom of Expression.

Discussions about amendments to the Law on Protection of Personal Data will continue at the following meetings of the working subgroup “Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data,” where relevant experts, investigative journalists, and representatives of human rights NGOs will be invited.