"January 28 is the International Personal Data Protection Day, which has been celebrated around the world at the initiative of the Council of Europe since 2006.

This day is a wonderful opportunity to once again, reconsider the importance of protecting our own or other individuals’ personal data and privacy and the role and responsibility of each of us in the process of raising personal data protection standards.

Despite the progress achieved in the data protection field in Georgia, we see that the main challenge for our country is still the protection of fundamental principles. In 2021, unfortunately, we observed numerous serious precedents of unlawful processing of data: thousands of files were released allegedly containing information on others’ private communications; we saw facts of unlawful use of personal data to discredit individuals; we saw documents and data released in social network and media which should only have been available to public or private entities; we saw serious outcomes caused by releasing personal data – trauma for members of families, minor sons/daughters, etc.

Despite the efforts made by the State Inspector’s Service, we were not able to adopt the new law on “Personal Data Protection”, whereby we would increase the responsibility of public and private sector in the field of personal data protection and would take a step towards the European Union in this direction. We also were not able to be among the developed states and sign the 108+ Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data whereby we would demonstrate our readiness to establish a higher standard of data protection in Georgia, implement internationally recognized principles and best practices.

During my tenure as the State Inspector, raising public awareness was a priority for me. in 2021, we created an instrument through which we would measure the state of progress of personal data protection and based on that, plan each subsequent year. Although the State Inspector’s Service existed almost entirely on the backdrop of the epidemiological situation, to improve data protection standards, we implemented many large-scale projects focused on raising awareness covering all regions of Georgia – in all regions of Georgia we selected students as “Personal Data Protection Ambassadors” who planned tens of awareness-raising campaigns; held numerous student forums and conferences; organized contests for schoolchildren; met with the representatives of local state bodies and non-governmental sector in all regions of Georgia; developed recommendations for various target audience; started issuing thematic collections of decisions made by the State Inspector; implemented distance learning course for all interested persons; delivered tens of trainings for the representatives of the public and private sector, etc.

January 28 is the day when the whole international community joins efforts to raise awareness on the importance of personal data protection. On this day, the Governments, Parliaments, Data Protection Supervisory Authorities of the states of the Council of Europe and other entities interested in personal data protection plan events aimed at raising personal data protection.

To establish a high standard of personal data protection, we need: ”to join our efforts in this area; proper and effective legislation; clearly manifested policy prioritizing data protection; increasing responsibility of public and private sectors; high level of public awareness; higher culture of personal data protection which will make us think of others’ private life and personal data, also of serious consequences of unlawful use (dissemination) of data not only when this concerns us but also when the case concerns the protection of others’ rights – regardless of their sex, origin, ethnicity, religion, political opinions or other grounds; we need strong and independent supervisory authority which will be equipped with effective legislative means and will be inviolable.

I would like to thank all those who contribute to the protection of privacy and personal data. At the same time, I call on every representative of the public body, private entity, media and members of the public – see an individual behind every data, do not spare efforts to protect human rights at any stage and do your best to avoid the harm that may be triggered by unlawful use or/and dissemination of data.” – State Inspector, Londa Toloraia.