Journalists say the authorities erroneously interpret and abusively implement the Law on Personal Data Protection, while representatives of the state consider the measures had to be imposed. Contradictory statements on the issue were made in the program “Politics” on TV7 channel, IPN reports.
Executive director of the Association of Independent Press Petru Macovei said the authorities created an artificial problem related to the protection of personal data in order to hamper the journalists’ access to information. “I admit that some of the journalists could have committed abuses related to personal data. But these abuses weren’t so often as the state institutions assert. The Law on Personal Data Protection is implemented abusively and bars the investigative journalists’ access to information,” stated Macovei.
Journalist Mariana Rata also considers that the state authorities exceeded the limit in the implementation of the Law on Personal Data Protection. “The legislation provides that the participants in trials have the right to ask the court to make the process secret. I do not understand the reason for making the schedule of hearings secret”,” she stated.
On the other hand, the representatives of the state in the program said particular concessions were made, but the observance of the Law on Personal Data Protection should be ensured. Deputy Minister of Justice Nicolae Esanu said the mechanism for searching cases on courts’ websites according to the name of trial participants was restored. As regards the publication of court decisions, a working group was set up to identify solutions in this regard.
Sergiu Bozian, deputy head of division at the National Center for Personal Data Protection, said the Center’s employees this year will pay visits to all the state institutions to explain how the law should be implemented.
