The Office of the Personal Data Protection Inspector is an independent state authority. It was established on 1 July, 2013. The Inspector's Office supervises implementation of personal data protection legislation and monitors lawfulness of data processing.
The activities related to the covert investigative actions and electronic communications identifying personal data, which are carried out by the Central Bank.
Protection of professional secrecy and confidentiality.
The Office of Personal Data Protection Inspector is chaired by the Personal Data Protection Inspector. The Inspector is independent and is not subordinated to any public body or public official. Any influence on or interference with the activities of the Inspector is prohibited and punished by the law.
As the Inspector shall be elected a citizen of Georgia with higher legal education and no less than 5 years of working experience in the area of human rights. The Inspector shall enjoy high professional and moral reputation. The Inspector is elected by the Parliament of Georgia for three-years term. The same person may be elected as the Inspector only twice in a row.
On July 1, 2013 Mrs. Tamar Kaldani was elected as the Personal Data Protection Inspector of Georgia. On July 2, 2016 she was re-elected by the Parliament as the Personal Data Protection Inspector for another term.
2000-2001 - Georgian Young Lawyers' Association, Regional Development Project Director.
2002 - Consultant of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.
Since 2014 - Georgian-American University, Social Sciences and Diplomacy School, Invited Lecturer, Course - Personal Data Protection.
Author, co-author and editor of more than 10 publications, including the 9th and 10th grade Civic Education Textbook (co-author), Textbook of Practical Law (author), the article "Implementation of International Standards of Personal Data Protection in Georgia" (co-author).
1998-2003 – Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Faculty of Law, LL.M.
In July 2019, after the expiration of Tamar Kaldani's term of office, the Parliament of Georgia will elect the State Inspector with a new procedure. The State Inspector's term of office is 6 years and the same person may not be elected for two consecutive terms.
Informing the public about the state of data protection in Georgia and events related to it.
Inspection is auditing the lawfulness of data processing in public and private organizations, that the Inspector is entitled to carry out at any time on his/her own initiative or on the basis of an interested person's complaint.
Within the scope of an inspection the Inspector is entitled to enter any premises, examine any documents and information, notwithstanding its content and form of storage; request a document and/or information from any individual or a legal person, including information containing national, commercial, professional, tax, or bank secret, also materials and/or documents, reflecting operative-investigational activities and investigation of a crime, that pertain to national secrets and are necessary to conduct an inspection within the relevant scope.
If a citizen believes that his/her personal data are processed in violation of the law, he/she enjoys the right to address the Personal Data Protection Inspector. In the process of handling a complaint, the Inspector examines and evaluates submitted facts and circumstances. If required, the Inspector requests additional materials from relevant persons and conducts an inspection of data controller or data processor.
The term of handling a complaint is two months. On the basis of a substantiated decision this term may be extended for one month.
Inspector's decision is mandatory and it may be appealed at a court in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation.
The Inspector's Office provides free-of-charge consultations to citizens and organizations on data protection issues. Any interested individual or legal person can reach the Inspector's Office in a verbal or written form or via phone and receive a consultation on his/her rights, obligations, legislation and any other issues of concern.
Raising public awareness is one of the key priorities of the Inspector's Office, while establishing the culture of respect for privacy in the country is part of its mission. Accordingly, the public is regularly informed on the importance of data protection, its rights and obligations, accompanying risks and activities of the Inspector's Office. Multiple projects, events and activities are being planned and implemented via diverse and modern channels of communication, digital and interactive forms, multimedia platforms and educational activities.
Inspector's office is actively engaged in various international and multilateral formats and international processes in the field of data protection, including activities of Council of Europe's consultative committee for Convention 108 (T-PD). In 2016 Inspector Tamar Kaldani was elected member of Bureau of the consultative committee. In 2018 she became the first vice president of the Bureau.
The Inspector's Office is an accredited member of numerous international working groups and conferences. Amongst them are International Working Group on Data Protection in Telecommunications (the so-called Berlin Group), Global Privacy Enforcement Network (GPEN), Central and Eastern Europe Data Protection Authorities (CEEDPA) and others.
The Inspector's Office is involved in the implementation of Association Agreement and Association Agenda; also, the Office has significantly contributed to the conclusion of the agreement between Georgia and European Police Office (Europol) and is currently participating in the ongoing negotiations on signing an agreement with Eurojust (EU's judicial cooperation body). In addition, the Inspector's Office was actively engaged in the visa dialogue process with the European Union.
On the basis of legislative amendments of 2017 the Personal Data Protection Inspector monitors all types of covert investigative actions and activities performed by Operative-Technical Agency within central database.
Personal Data Protection Inspector monitors a covert investigative action – interception of telephone conversations – via electronic control system, special electronic control system and by inspecting data controller or data processor.
The Inspector checks the existence of a court ruling or in emergency cases – a prosecutor's resolution and after issuing a confirmation via software, Operative-Technical Agency launches interception of telephone communications.
The Personal Data Protection Inspector is entitled to suspend a covert investigative action via electronic control system if he/she was not duly provided with a court ruling or prosecutor's resolution on authorizing the covert investigative action, or if the document contains ambiguities/irregularities or the data indicated within are inconsistent.
Suspended covert investigative action will continue after the Personal Data Protection Inspector via electronic control system digitally confirms receiving the relevant document/elimination of errors.
Along with cover investigative actions conducted by law-enforcement authorities, the Inspector monitors activities performed within the central database of the Operative-Technical Agency via electronic control system and through inspections.
Notably, during the inspection of the Operative-Technical Agency of Georgia, the Inspector is entitled not only to enter restricted premises of the Agency and monitor its activities on site but also examine classified documents and inspect the technical infrastructure used for data processing.
The Inspector's mandate additionally extends to processing of data by law-enforcement authorities for crime investigation purposes, including collection of computer data – documents, information, internet traffic data and content data.
Oversight is carried out by comparing the information received from a court, prosecution service and electronic communication providers, as well as by conducting inspections, which may be launched on the basis of a citizen's complaint or on the Inspector's initiative.
If an administrative offence is exposed, the Inspector uses response mechanisms established by the law, including imposition of fines.
The report on the results of monitoring covert investigative actions envisaged by Articles 136-138 and Article 1431.1(a)(b) of the Criminal Procedure Code of Georgia is annually submitted by the Personal Data Protection Inspector to the Parliament's Trust Group and parliamentary committee designated by the Bureau of the Parliament of Georgia, in the manner established by the Parliamentary Rules of Procedure.
By the Inspector's decision an online platform was developed where the decisons made in result of handling complaints and inspections are publicly available. Visitor of the webpage can search them by various criteria, e.g. by date, disputed issue or by taken measures. The register is updated gradually.