Sergiu Bozianu: Moldova Still Doesn’t ‘Get’ Privacy Law

In June 2019, in the last days of Pavel Filip's Democratic Party government, an journalistic investigation done by media outlet RISE Moldova revealed that the Interior Minister had authorized special surveillance actions on 52 members of the pro-European opposition, civil society members and journalists.

The 52 were psychically monitored, their phones tapped and cameras and microphones were even installed in their apartments. These major violations of their private lives were justified by alleged suspicions that they were planning a coup.

"From what I know from the media - because there have been no official reactions - some criminal cases have started [on these cases of illegal surveillance]," Bozianu said.

"But given the level of public interest in this activity, the bodies concerned should come up with statements on the subject - to clearly state what was done, and what the results were," he added.

Bozianu mentioned another big problem in Moldova on privacy, besides the questionable actions of the authorities.

"We are talking here about private security agencies and the detectives who confuse their security activity in the private sector with police interception," he said.

Bozianu said members of private security agencies often do exactly what the police do, even though they are not allowed to, by law. "Usually, these are former police officers or secret service employees, and they do the same activities in the private sector after they leave the official system," he explained.

Confusion about what law really says:

Moldova first adopted a law on the protection of personal data in 2007-2008, after it ratified Convention 108 of the Council of Europe's 1981 treaty for the protection of individuals...