Ukraine/ 5.1 General legislation  

5.1.8 Data protection laws

The Law on Information (1992, with amendments 2000 and 2002) determines general legal principles for receiving, using, distributing and keeping information, secures its protection and defends an individual and society against incorrect information.

The Law on Data Protection in Automatic Systems was adopted in 1994. Amendments and changes were introduced in 2004. This Law and respective government resolutions are aimed at establishing regulative principles of legal relations concerning data protection in databases "under observance of property rights of Ukrainian citizens and legal entities to information and access to information".

On 1 June 2010, the Parliament of Ukraine adopted the Law on Protection of Personal Data which came into force on 1 January 2011. As a head of the parliamentary committee for science and education, Volodymyr Polokhalo said, "this law filled the privacy gap guaranteed by the Constitution". On the other hand, the law now forces companies and banks to inform a citizen about including his / her personal data in databases. At the same time, as some experts warn, the law allows top officials to refuse to present data about their incomes.

The Ukrainian Law on Access to Public Information came into force on 9 May 2011. On 3 February 2011, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych signed a Law on Access to Public Information and a Law on Amendments to certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Ensuring Access to Public Information, which the parliament adopted on 13 January 2011. According to the law, access to information about the activities and decisions of public authorities should be provided according to the following procedure: the information should be published in the media and in official publications, provided on request, posted on official Web sites on the Internet, and provided through the information services of the public authorities. According to the document, information on the activities of the authorities is mandatory for disclosure.

In 2013, according to the Law on the 2013 Budget of Ukraine, expenditure for the State Service of Ukraine for Personal Data Protection will decrease from UAH 8.8 million in 2012 to UAH 7.8 million in 2013.

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