EUROPEAN DATA PROTECTION DAY
– 28 January 2023 –

By Mugurel Olariu, RPD protectie date

January 28, 2023 marks the celebration of European Data Protection Day by all member states of the Council of Europe, when it is 42 years since the Council of Europe adopted Convention 108 for the protection of individuals with regard to automated processing of personal data, the first legal instrument in the field.

The annual celebration of this day is subject to the objective of raising the level of awareness of the general public regarding the rules for the use of personal data, under the auspices of highlighting the importance of the right to privacy and the protection of personal data.

Convention 108 remains, to date, the only legally binding international instrument on the universal protection of personal data as a field, making it the “Global Data Protection Convention”. Convention 108 may not be known to the general public and the billions of people it protects (55 countries in Africa, Latin America and Europe have ratified or acceded to Convention 108, implementing it on a daily basis), but its role has been essential in improving our protection.

Currently, Data Protection Day is celebrated globally and is called Privacy Day outside Europe. On this date, governments, parliaments, national data protection bodies and other actors carry out activities to raise awareness of personal data protection and privacy rights. These activities include campaigns aimed at the general public, educational projects for teachers and students, conferences and open days in specialized agencies*1.

At the EU level, the European Data Protection Board are presented a video promoting the European Day of Personal Data Protection*2.

At the national level, Law no. 290/2021 was adopted, published in the M. Of. no. 1171/10.12.2021, by which the Protocol, adopted in Strasbourg on October 10, 2018, signed by Romania on June 26, 2020, amending the Convention for the protection of individuals against automated processing of personal data, adopted on Strasbourg on 28 January 1981.

To celebrate the European Day of Data Protection, on January 27, 2023, the National Supervisory Authority for the Processing of Personal Data*3 organized the Conference on-line entitled “The effectiveness of GDPR enforcement in a connected world”, in which relevant aspects from the case study were presented and debated. Mainly, the authorities and representative central public institutions, the most important professional associations and unions, chambers of commerce, companies and media representatives were invited to this event.

The marking of the European Data Protection Day was also carried out with the support of the national television station TVR and the Bucharest Transport Society, which will broadcast the informative clip on the General Data Protection Regulation (public interest message), made by ANSPDCP.

In this context, we note that the national supervisory authority initiated a collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the National Authority for the Protection of Children’s Rights and Adoption, in order to identify appropriate means aimed at increasing the level of awareness regarding the rules for processing personal data and the risks involved.

Also, for those interested, synthetic information on the Authority’s activity from the previous year is presented, as every year, in the Brochure dedicated to the European Data Protection Day, available, together with the related leaflet, posted on the official website.

As our lives become more active and society continues to take advantage of the potential developed in the digital age, the 108+ Convention becomes increasingly important for each of us, ensuring humanity, dignity and integrity in an age of artificial intelligence and automated decision-making, providing a common international legal space to facilitate data flows between countries.

In conclusion, January 28 is the day that reminds us that new technologies, especially new artificial intelligence and beyond, must serve the individual in a way that respects human rights, especially the rights to the protection of privacy and personal data.

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*1 https://www.coe.int/en/web/data-protection/convention108/modernised
*2 https://edpb.europa.eu/news/news/2023/data-protection-day-2023_ro
*3 https://www.dataprotection.ro/?page=Comunicat_Presa_20.01.2023&lang=ro

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