Kosovo civil society mobilizes to protect digital rights

 

NGOs LENS from Pristina and KCIC from Gjilan, today presented for representatives of CSOs and relevant institutions, a research on legal framework for digital rights. The research was jointly drafted by local and international experts, analyzing the laws in force in Kosovo and EU directives on the matter.

 

NGOs LENS from Pristina and KCIC from Gjilan, today presented for representatives of CSOs and relevant institutions a research on legal framework for digital rights. The research was jointly drafted by local and international experts, analyzing the laws in force in Kosovo and EU directives on the matter.

 

Following global trends, highly influenced by the technologic development, certain violations of human rights, freedom, and democracy have appeared or deteriorated in the digital age. The increased use of Internet, with penetration in Kosovo similar to more developed countries, has raised concerns about violation of privacy, safety of personal data, and restrictions of freedom of speech, information and media.

 

The aforementioned rights and freedoms sometimes collide, and civil society finds itself excluded from the debate. It is therefore imperative that NGOs have capacities that permit their contributions to be meaningful and constructive. This requires, among other things, familiarity with specific laws which are important and that have been subject of the study presented today; Penal Code, the Law on Protection of Personal Data, the Law on Access to Public Documents, the Law on Electronic Surveillance and that on Electronic Communications.

 

Participants today had the opportunity to learn about findings, conclusions and recommendations from the first report, as well as to discuss them. It was also a unique opportunity for civil society organizations (mainly involved in human rights) to get acquainted with the institutions responsible for the implementation of the aforementioned laws.

 

The conference is part of our project “Defending human rights in the digital age”, funded by the European Union through the European Office in Kosovo.

 

The participants were welcomed at the beginning of the conference by Mr. Libor Chlad, Deputy Head of the Cooperation Section in the EU Office in Kosovo. Mr. Chlad said among others things that “To succeed in the global market, Kosovo should create conditions to enable economic operators to benefit from the opportunities offered by the digital economy, ensuring a high level of protection of individual rights.”

 

Other activities of this project include an awareness raising campaign about the sensitive issues related to the use of internet and new possibilities of big data processing; a review of practices of handling personal information in the commercial sector, voter data processing, and the impact of digital communications on the freedom of information and media freedom. The project started in January 2016 and will end in August 2017.

 

You can find the full report of this study here. 

For more information visit: www.digitalrightskosovo.com