TIRANA, Jan. 29 – A large number of students and MPs attended lectures on information and privacy on Jan. 28 — the European data protection day — as part of an activity dedicated to citizen awareness, considering the country’s misinformation and cases of privacy breaches.
Due to the lack of laws, several individuals have been harmed from publication of personal data. Only through the work of the Commissioner’s Office on the right for information and data protection, has the issue been brought to attention lately.
During the last four years, the number of filed complaints for privacy breaches has tripled, going from 73 in 2014 to 140 in 2015, 150 in 2016 and, finally, over 200 complaints in 2017.
The Commissioner’s Office was founded in 2008, while March marks ten years since the Albanian parliament approved the law on “personal data protection” .
“Citizen awareness is the authority’s main goal, along with observing legislation implementation in this field, and we can finally see the first results,” said Commissioner Besmir Dervishi during the activity.
Vice President of Parliament Vasilika Hysi, who also attended the activity, said the office is doing an excellent job in encouraging citizens to seek their rights. She added the parliament will further support this authority to consolidate its legal basis and supply all necessary resources to guarantee its implementation.
“I urge all citizens, and especially the youth, to not be reluctant in suing violations in this field,” Hysi added.
On the data protection day, the Albanian Post issued a special postage stamp drawn by painter Artion Baboci as a reminder for stamp users.
Albania ratified the European Council’s Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data in 2004.
Students were also trained on social media privacy and information sharing that could be harmful.
