On March 10, 2016, with the initiative of the Parliament of Georgia training on personal data protection for the staff of the legislative body was held. The training was led by the Training Manager of the Office of Personal Data Protection Inspector, Mrs. Natalia Mikeladze and Head of Legal Department of the Inspector’s Office, Mrs. Salome Bakhsoliani.

Representatives of different Departments and Secretariat of the Parliament, Heads of the Committees, representatives of the Secretariat of the Speaker of the Parliament, Heads of different Units and Chief Specialists responsible for lawmaking process attended the training. Law of Georgia on Personal Data Protection, principles and rules of data processing, data storing timeframes and data subjects’ rights were discussed during the training.

“Being the highest representative body of the country, we have direct connection to citizens’ personal data, therefore it is important to have a thorough understanding of existing regulations, as well as established practice on data protection and relevant European standards” – stated Mrs. Marine Asatiani, Head of Human Resource Department of the Parliament’s Secretariat.

Staff of the Parliament posed questions on balancing right to privacy and right to access public information, specifics related to publishing information, correction of the data and its disclosure, data processing during entering and exiting buildings and other important issues.

According to the Trainings Manager of the Inspector’s Office, training was very interesting and important, since different articles of the Law were interpreted and all questions on their implementation in practice were answered. The Office of Personal Data Protection Inspector and the Parliament of Georgia plan to continue close cooperation in different formats, including through consultations.