Sarajevo marks European Data Protection Day

(Patria) - The Agency for Personal Data Protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina, following established practice, is marking European Data Protection Day for the tenth year in a row.

At the press conference, the media will have the opportunity to learn about the most significant aspects of the Agency's work in the past year, as well as plans for the upcoming period.

- European Data Protection Day is also known as Privacy Day outside of Europe, and its purpose is to raise public awareness about the right to protection of personal data and privacy, which is one of the fundamental values of every democratic society. As early as 2006, the Council of Europe, with the support of the European Commission, declared January 28th European Data Protection Day, partly because this date marks the anniversary of the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data, known as "Convention 108," which is considered the European foundation for privacy and personal data protection.

Namely, Convention 108 was opened for signature precisely on January 28, 1981, with the aim of ensuring respect for the rights and fundamental freedoms of every person on the territory of each signatory state, and especially the right to privacy with regard to the automatic processing of data relating to it.

The Convention is currently in force in 47 Council of Europe member states, as well as in some non-member states such as Uruguay, Mauritius, Senegal, Tunisia, Cabo Verde, and Mexico, i.e., in 53 countries, and Argentina, Burkina Faso, and Morocco have been invited to accede. After a long process of modernizing the Convention, the Protocol amending Convention 108 was opened for signature on 10.10.2018.

Issues of data protection and privacy are increasingly present in the daily lives of all citizens, and it is necessary for citizens to be aware of their rights regarding the processing of their data, i.e., for what purposes their personal data is collected and processed, as well as what risks are associated with unauthorized collection and processing of their personal data. Therefore, caution and responsibility of citizens when providing and disclosing their own data, as well as data about others, is an important element for ensuring respect for privacy - it was announced from the Agency for Personal Data Protection.