Original article (in Serbian) was published on 02/02/2022
The website B92 published news claiming that the Government of North Macedonia plans to publish the names of people infected with coronavirus on its website and in the official gazette. Apparently, such action didn’t seem suspicious to the author of the text, even though such a thing would represent a serious violation of the law related to personal data protection. However, something like this will not happen.
The text of the B92 website, which, in addition to Kurir was also shared by the website called Nulta tacka, states that such a decision is “disputable”.
“The idea is supported by the large increase in positive cases and the need to quickly inform citizens, but the health authorities will also adhere to the current plan to inform citizens by phone”, these websites claim.
Although the author of the text obviously “googled” and found this decision, in the end, he left out the critical parts of the news in which it is stated that no personal data will be published.
The website of the Government of North Macedonia states that this decision, adopted on February 1, prescribes that decisions on isolation will be published as soon as possible on the website of the State Sanitary and Health Inspectorate and in the official gazette, without publishing personal data. Although they do not specify what exactly these solutions will look like, it is quite clear that they will not contain names or other personal information.
“Personal data of citizens will not be published, i.e., the standards defined by the Law on Personal Data Protection will be fully respected”, it is stated on the government’s website.
According to the Law on Personal Data Protection of North Macedonia, as well as according to the law of the Republic of Serbia, personal data is any information that refers to a citizen and by which his identity can be determined directly or indirectly. These include name and surname, ID number, address and similar. This legally protected data also includes data related to health, mental or physical, so it is forbidden to publish any information about someone’s health condition or details from the medical record.
This change was introduced due to the growing number of infected people who have been given a measure of isolation, and due to the need to issue a quarantine decision as soon as possible, so that citizens can quickly enter isolation, and to shorten the time between getting a positive result and “starting quarantine”.
Citizens will be informed by phone that the decision on their isolation has been officially made, and they will be able to receive written confirmation if they request it.
In addition to the personal request of citizens, the primary public prosecutor’s office or some other public body that has the authority to inspect this type of personal data can also receive a certificate on determining the self-isolation of a citizen.