Removal of personal information from data of organisations “pursuing interests of foreign power” “welcome change” - Public Defender

Levan Ioseliani, the Georgian Public Defender, on Monday welcomed amendments made by the country’s Justice Ministry to regulations for organisations with the status of “pursuing interests of foreign power” that removed the requirement to include personal information of their employees in annual declarations with the National Agency of Public Registry.

Ioseliani had addressed Justice Minister Rati Bregadze in August with a request for the change, with the amendment removing the requirement to include personal numbers, bank account numbers, financial institutions related to employees, contractual partners, beneficiaries and other individuals in their declarations.

The Public Defender “positively evaluated” the move and said the changes would “significantly reduce the negative impact of the regulations on individuals”, while also noting objectives of his request had not been fully achieved, as the requirement to include names and surnames of individuals remained in the regulations.

The official pointed out the importance of “fully implementing” the proposal to prevent “encroachment on personal data of individuals”, and expressed his “readiness for further cooperation with the Ministry”.

The law, passed by the Parliament in May, requires non-commercial entities and media outlets in the country to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad.