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LEVON ZURABYAN: ARMENIAN SPECIAL SERVICES SPEND RESOURCES ON SPYING ON OPPOSITIONISTS RATHER THAN ON COLLECTING DATA ABOUT AZERBAIJAN
by Ashot Safaryan
Wednesday, March 4, 14:19
Armenian special services spend resources on spying on the
oppositionists rather than on collecting data about Azerbaijan,
Levon Zurabyan, Head of the opposition Armenian National Congress
(ANC) Faction, said at today's parliamentary hearings on the bill
"On protection of personal data".
Zurabyan said that protection of the citizens' personal data is one
of the cornerstones of democracy. The Universal Declaration of Human
Rights pays a special attention to this issue and the Constitution of
Armenia also points out the need to protect the citizens' personal
data.
"In our country, however, the special services use interception,
espionage and personal data collection against the oppositionists,
and this is a topical problem. In Georgia, for example, numerous
archived data on interception of oppositionists were revealed
following the shift in power. Armenia experiences the same thing on
much larger scales, with the Armenian Constitution and laws being
roughly violated. One of the reasons of our failures on the border
with Azerbaijan is that our special services and intelligence spend
the major part of the resources on spying on the oppositionists rather
than on collecting data about the enemy's actions. Otherwise, we would
have an absolutely different situation on the front line", he said.
Zurabyan recalled that the record of his private conversation with
Vartan Oskanian appeared on the internet two years ago. "We are still
waiting for the results of the inquiry into the illegal publication
of that private conversation", he said.
Zurabyan, therefore, doubts that the bill is aimed at protecting
the personal data of the citizens. The need to adopt the relevant
law is dictated by the EU requirements concerning the protection of
individual data. These requirements are restricted to elaboration and
adoption of a special regime of data storage. The document envisages
the principles concerning data reliability and the mechanisms of
introduction of a new institution that will regulate the relations
between an individual data subject and the data base developer.
The bill includes a provision on creation of an authorized body for
personal data protection. That body will reveal and remove the problems
in the field of personal data protection. The relevant license will be
provided by the Armenian Government. The document forbids application
of the personal data, which are not needed in the data collection
process. The data are acknowledged legal if developed on a legal
basis and with the subject's consent. The data may be transferred to
the third countries' state structures with the citizen's consent. The
data may be transferred under interstate agreements. The document also
bans the transfer of the data to the mass media without the subject's
consent. The data may be transferred in the electronic form if an
e-signature is available.
http://www.arminfo.am/index.cfm?objectid=517A3550-C260-11E4-A9290EB7C0D21663
From: A. Papazian
by Ashot Safaryan
Wednesday, March 4, 14:19
Armenian special services spend resources on spying on the
oppositionists rather than on collecting data about Azerbaijan,
Levon Zurabyan, Head of the opposition Armenian National Congress
(ANC) Faction, said at today's parliamentary hearings on the bill
"On protection of personal data".
Zurabyan said that protection of the citizens' personal data is one
of the cornerstones of democracy. The Universal Declaration of Human
Rights pays a special attention to this issue and the Constitution of
Armenia also points out the need to protect the citizens' personal
data.
"In our country, however, the special services use interception,
espionage and personal data collection against the oppositionists,
and this is a topical problem. In Georgia, for example, numerous
archived data on interception of oppositionists were revealed
following the shift in power. Armenia experiences the same thing on
much larger scales, with the Armenian Constitution and laws being
roughly violated. One of the reasons of our failures on the border
with Azerbaijan is that our special services and intelligence spend
the major part of the resources on spying on the oppositionists rather
than on collecting data about the enemy's actions. Otherwise, we would
have an absolutely different situation on the front line", he said.
Zurabyan recalled that the record of his private conversation with
Vartan Oskanian appeared on the internet two years ago. "We are still
waiting for the results of the inquiry into the illegal publication
of that private conversation", he said.
Zurabyan, therefore, doubts that the bill is aimed at protecting
the personal data of the citizens. The need to adopt the relevant
law is dictated by the EU requirements concerning the protection of
individual data. These requirements are restricted to elaboration and
adoption of a special regime of data storage. The document envisages
the principles concerning data reliability and the mechanisms of
introduction of a new institution that will regulate the relations
between an individual data subject and the data base developer.
The bill includes a provision on creation of an authorized body for
personal data protection. That body will reveal and remove the problems
in the field of personal data protection. The relevant license will be
provided by the Armenian Government. The document forbids application
of the personal data, which are not needed in the data collection
process. The data are acknowledged legal if developed on a legal
basis and with the subject's consent. The data may be transferred to
the third countries' state structures with the citizen's consent. The
data may be transferred under interstate agreements. The document also
bans the transfer of the data to the mass media without the subject's
consent. The data may be transferred in the electronic form if an
e-signature is available.
http://www.arminfo.am/index.cfm?objectid=517A3550-C260-11E4-A9290EB7C0D21663
From: A. Papazian