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Large number of personal data of Albanian citizens compromised for political purposes
Given the concerns of a large number of citizens regarding allegations of the collection and use of their personal data by a political entity, specifically the Socialist Party of Albania, the Institution of the People's Advocate states that obtaining and using personal data of citizens by any political party is illegal, unless the citizens themselves have given a special written authorization for their use for the permitted purpose, or for other concrete cases provided by the legislation in force.
From the preliminary data and public communications, it results that the collection of publicly exposed data does not meet these conditions.
The collection of personal data of citizens without their consent is closely related to their private life. The right to protection of personal data is part of the rights protected by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which guarantees the right to respect for private and family life, home and correspondence and sets out the conditions under which restrictions on this right are permitted, for which the European Court of Human Rights has a rich jurisprudence.
Council of Europe’s Convention no. 108, as a legally binding international act, also deals particularly with the protection of individuals' data.
There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law, for example in interests of national security, public safety or the economic wellbeing of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health and morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.
This fundamental right is also sanctioned in the Constitution of the Republic of Albania and more specifically in article 35 which clearly provides that no one may be obliged, except when the law requires it, to make public the data connected with his person. The collection, use and making public of data about a person is done with his consent, except for the cases provided by law, exceptions which are not related in any case to what has been made public through the media but also accepted in public positions by various political representatives during this week.
Even more concerning is that the argument of denying the fact of receiving and sharing this data by state institutions, representatives of this political force state that this data has been collected for years and updated over the years without taking into consideration that it is prohibited by law.
Political opinions and beliefs are sensitive and deeply confidential data which includes any information about the individual, related to his racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, union membership, religious or philosophical belief, criminal conviction, as well as data on health and sexual life.
But the processing of personal data, as defined in the framework of prevention and criminal prosecution activities, for committing a criminal offense against public order and other offenses in the area of criminal law, or even in the area of national defense and security, can be performed only by the official authorities defined by law.
The institution of People’s Advocate wants to clarify the public opinion that it has a limited mandate regarding the protection of personal data, as with the approval of law no. 9887, dated 10.03.2008 "On personal data protection" the supervision and monitoring of personal data protection has passed to the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection, an independent special institution.
The People's Advocate, as part of its promotional mandate in the framework of fundamental human rights continues to have the guarantee of this right and in any case will ask every state institution to guarantee the implementation of this right to its highest standard.
The People's Advocate requires from the part of the state and law enforcement authorities to take all necessary measures to stop any illegal use of personal data and to clearly distance themselves from any political force from such practices that violate human rights. Under Article 17 of the Personal Data Protection Act, anyone who has collected, processed or stored personal data is responsible for compensating the damage owed to citizens.
To conclude, the People's Advocate expresses its concern that freedom of the media must be fundamentally guaranteed and that the democratic space in the country must not be compromised.
Source: Office of the People's Advocate, Albania
