The Agency for Personal Data Protection claims that publishing the list for voting outside BiH was not necessary to prevent election fraud.

Since the publication of the list, TI BiH has received numerous reports from citizens who complain about the misuse of their data in the context of election fraud, so it appeals to the competent institutions to publish clear instructions to citizens who find themselves in this situation .

Banja Luka, 30. October 2020 — The BiH Agency for Personal Data Protection claims that publishing excerpts from the Central Voters’ List for voting outside BiH “was not a necessary measure in a democratic society to prevent electoral fraud.” This is stated in the Agency’s response to a letter recently sent by Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH), in which the Agency asks for the protection of citizens whose data have been misused to vote from abroad.

The Agency’s decision to order the Central Election Commission (CEC) to remove the list for voting outside BiH provoked numerous reactions, because its publication revealed numerous fictitious reports and mass misuse of data by BiH citizens. However, in response to TI BiH, the Agency claims that there are other “less intensive ways of processing personal data to prevent election fraud”, without stating exactly which one, does not want to raise the issue of abuse, and reminds that every citizen can request written access to the Central Voters Register.

The agency states in the letter that in 2012. discovered one case of misuse of personal data for voting from abroad, identified deficiencies in regulations that have not been changed to date and has not acted on citizens’ reports since then, but forwards them to prosecuting authorities.

At the same time, the letter does not specify what mechanisms will be provided to citizens to protect their rights. The agency states in the letter that it is not competent to determine specific decisions for the CEC, although according to the Law, in addition to the authority to ban data processing, it can also issue regulations and guidelines on how to process data. Therefore, in response to the Agency, TI BiH emphasized that this position of the Agency does not contribute to a constructive solution to the problem, and deviates from the provisions of the Law on Personal Data Protection of BiH, which allows the right to personal data processing without the consent of the holder. if it is necessary in order to fulfill the public interest or if the protection of legal rights is necessary , one of which is certainly the right to vote.

Therefore, TI BiH called on the Agency, in cooperation with the Central Election Commission, to find a solution to this problem in order to determine the mechanisms for verifying and detecting identity theft in the election process. Since the publication of the list, TI BiH has received numerous reports from citizens who complain about the misuse of their data in the context of election fraud, so at the same time it appeals to the competent institutions to publish clear instructions to citizens who find themselves in this situation. .

Response of the ZZLP Agency

Press rls 10/30/2020

TI BiH response to the ZZLP Agency