The citizens should know their rights related to the protection of personal data. This is the message of the National Center for Personal Data Protection, which initiated an information and awareness-raising campaign to this effect on January 29. The event is staged in connection with the Internal Data Protection Day that is annually marked on January 28, IPN reports.

In a news conference, the Center’s head Eduard Raducan spoke about a poll conducted last September. This shows that only one fourth of the respondents know their rights concerning personal data protection. “We live in a period when the information systems develop swiftly and an increasing number of personal data are being processed,” he stated.

Eduard Raducanu said this year the Center aims to stage more events to inform the public opinion. A number of education institutions in Chisinau today hold public debates and seminars for students centering on the protection of personal data. A video clip about privacy and personal data protection will be distributed in public transport in Chisinau in February. Within a Twinning project launched by the EU, workshops on the issue will be staged nationwide.

According to the official, the cases of illegal processing of personal data are most frequent in the banking, police and health systems and also in the mass media more recently. Deviations from the legal norms are witnessed as regards the access to the state register and protection of data from those databases.

A bill to regulate the installation of surveillance cameras in classrooms of education institutions, in units of transport and on the street, including those that supervise road traffic, will be soon proposed for public debates.