Georgian parliament passes amendments to Law on Information Security
Georgian parliament has approved amendments to the Law on Information Security with its third hearing. Photo: IPN.
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Georgian parliament has passed amendments to the Law on Information Security with its third hearing.
The approved amendments mean three subjects of the critical information system will be divided into three categories:
- First category of subjects may include all state bodies and institutions, legal entities under public law and state-owned enterprises. The strictest regulations apply to the first category of subjects. The LEPL Operational-Technical Agency of the State Security Service will be able to access the information assets, information systems and infrastructure of any such institution (Presidential Administration, Tbilisi City Hall, Central Election Commission, etc.).
- The second category of subjects include electronic communications, such as telecommunication companies, Internet providers. These companies will also be under the control of the Operative-Technical Agency (OTA) of the State Security Service (SSS) of Georgia.
- The third category of entities include legal entities under private law, such as banks, financial institutions. The new law applies loyal regulations to them, which means that the third category entities will be supervised by the LEPL Digital Governance Agency of the Ministry of Justice.
British Ambassador to Georgia Mark Cleyton said this is a strong foundation on which Georgia can build future cyber security.
Very pleased that @Geoparliament approved Georgia’s new law on information security. This is a strong foundation on which ???????? can build its future cyber security, essential for its defence & sovereignty in cyber space. Must ensure oversight is strengthened in this sensitive domain
— Mark Clayton (@MarkClaytonFCDO) June 11, 2021
The Head of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association Nika Simonishvili says the 'new law means total control over the Internet'.
The Georgian parliament passed the law giving the State Security service full control over the entire Internet”, wrote Simonishvili in his Facebook post.
In its statement the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) says that the amendments to the Law on Information Security contradicts the separate requirements of the Network and Information Systems Directive.
IDFI says that the new law gives OTA the opportunity to have direct access to information systems of the legislature, executive or judiciary, as well as the telecommunications sectors and indirect access to personal and commercial information stored in the systems.
IDFI also says the law enforcement agency is given the opportunity to have access to personal data and there is a real danger of illegal and disproportionate processing of personal information.
The ruling Georgian Dream party and a number of opposition parties have agreed on several constitutional amendments put forward in a EU-mediated compromise back in April to end months of political standoff.
Georgia has ranked 55th in the world and 30th in Europe in the Global Cybersecurity Index 2020 (GCI) 2020 amongst 182 countries. The GCI is a composite index produced, analysed and published by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to measure the commitment of its member countries to cybersecurity.
The computer emergency response team of Georgia’s digital governance agency will host a three-month free programme on cyber security starting next month, the agency announced on Wednesday.