Implicațiile pandemiei COVID 19 în domeniul prelucrării datelor cu caracter personal
Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Field of Personal Data Processing

Author(s): Alexandru Georgescu
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Sociology, Health and medicine and law, EU-Legislation
Published by: Universul Juridic
Keywords: sensitive data; health data; operator; General Data Protection Regulation; data subject; medical crisis; security of personal data; scientific research;
Summary/Abstract: The outbreak of the medical crisis - the COVID 19 pandemic, in 2020, triggered chain reactions in all areas of social life. The fight against the spread of the virus required urgent measures and the adaptation of the existing regulatory framework. The right to privacy, the protection of health and the right to the protection of personal data are fundamental human rights enshrined in and protected by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (EU) and by the Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and last but not least by the General Regulation on data protection - no. 679/2016 GDPR. The study addresses issues related to the legislative framework for the processing of personal data, including health data in the context of the COVID 19 pandemic, based on measures to protect and limit the spread of the virus adopted by EU Member States - especially Romania, as well as processing health data for the purpose of scientific research. The first part of the article analyzes, without an exhaustive approach, the issues aimed at processing personal data in exceptinal situations – the COVID 19 pandemic by highlighting an important feature – the urgency of the measures taken and balancing them with the exercise of fundamental rights. This part identifies some critical points and some solutions proposed by data processing authorities or european bodies involved in the protection of personal data. The second part of the paper analyzes the normative acts and documents without legal force in Romania and in the EU, adopted during this period and considered as relevant in highlighting the impact that COVID 19 pandemic had in the field of data processing. Without exhausting the subject of the consequences of the pandemic on the field of data protection, the last part of the paper is devoted to the presentation of Romanian jurisprudential examples to show that data subjects have become more aware of their rights when their data is processed.

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