Chronology of personal data protection in the Slovak Republic in the years 1993 - 2002
The protection of personal data is an integral part of the right to respect for private life, which is among the basic rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution of the Slovak Republic (Article 19, paragraphs 2 and 3). Its purpose is to provide protection to everyone against unauthorized interference in private and family life and the collection, publication or other misuse of their personal data.
The rules of personal data processing to ensure these constitutional rights are established by law. In the Slovak Republic, Act No. 256/1992 Coll. on the protection of personal data in information systems. However, due to the division of Czechoslovakia, this became unenforceable in Slovakia, as it assumed that both republics would further specify the rules of personal data protection with their other national standards. Also under the influence of the clarification of the definitions of terms and the clarification of the rules for the processing of personal data by the member states of the European Union (hereinafter referred to as "EU"), which resulted in the approval of the Directive of the European Parliament and the Council No. 95/46/EC from 1995 on the protection of natural persons in the processing of personal data data and the free movement of such data (hereinafter referred to as the "directive"), the Slovak Republic proceeded to draft a new law.
The preparation of the draft law was started in 1995. The first draft of the paragraphed text was sent to the legislative department of the Council of Europe for assessment at the beginning of 1996. The Council of Europe identified Great Britain and Portugal as countries that commented on the proposal. In October 1996, the legislative department of the Council of Europe convened a working meeting in Strasbourg, the purpose of which was to assess the draft law with the participation of representatives of the Slovak Republic, Great Britain, Portugal and the Council of Europe. As a result, there were comments that were taken into account in the next version of the draft law, and the revised draft was forwarded to the next legislative process.
The draft of the prepared law was approved by the National Council of the Slovak Republic on February 3, 1998, and this law under no. 52/1998 Coll. on the protection of personal data in information systems entered into force on March 1, 1998. The law created the so-called the commissioner for the protection of personal data in information systems, who was responsible for supervising the protection of personal data and, together with the personal data protection inspection unit, handled complaints from affected persons and operators processing personal data.
Another significant milestone in the development and completion of mechanisms for the protection of personal data of natural persons was the accession of the Slovak Republic to Council of Europe Convention No. 108 on the protection of individuals during the automated processing of personal data and its amendments. On September 13, 2000, the instrument of ratification was deposited in Strasbourg on the accession of the Slovak Republic to this convention and its amendments. The National Council of the Slovak Republic agreed with them with its resolution no. 940 of June 20, 2000. The President of the Slovak Republic ratified them on August 24, 2000. The Convention and the amendments to this Convention entered into force for the Slovak Republic on January 1, 2001.
These facts significantly influenced the national regulation in the field of personal data protection in the Slovak Republic, which resulted in the adoption of Act No. 428/2002 Coll. on the protection of personal data, which led to the establishment of today's Personal Data Protection Office of the Slovak Republic.