The Moldovans are not appropriately informed about the protection of personal data. The legislation is good, but costly measures are needed to inform the population, considers the director of the National Center for Personal Data Protection Vitalie Panis, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a conference themed “Protection of Personal Data as Guaranteed Basic Right” on January 28, Vitalie Panis said the situation in this field has improved during the last four years, after the authority responsible for data protection was created. However, the population is insufficiently informed about how they should protect the data or how they should protect their right to private life. According to Vitalie Panis, the Center cooperates the best with the Ministry of the Interior. They now work a lot with the Health Ministry too as there are many cases when the data of patients are not protected. In 2012, the National Council for Personal Data Protection carried out 82 inspections based on over 200 petitions from people. There were imposed fines on a number of authorities that disclosed personal information. The participants in the conference said the risk of personal data being used for evil purposes increased now that the Internet became more accessible. The experts referred to the use of social networking sites, where people write personal information voluntarily. The European officials attending the conference said the ensuring of the protection of personal data is a condition for liberalizing the visa regime with the European Union.