On August 2-7, 2021, the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) and State Inspector's Service held the joint summer school on personal data protection.

Third- and fourth-year students, also master students of the School of Law of Authorized Universities in Georgia, attended the summer school.188 candidates participated in the competition, of which IDFI and the State Inspector's Office selected 20 students based on pre-defined evaluation criteria and interviews.

Within the school, the participants were introduced to the following issues related to personal data protection:

• Mandate and competence of the State Inspector's Service, the definition of terms, and practical examples - Salome Kurasbediani, Senior Lawyer of the Public Sector Oversight Department of the State Inspector’s Service.
• Legalgrounds and principles of personal data processing- Salome Kurasbediani, Senior Lawyer of the Public Sector Oversight Department of the State Inspector’s Service.
  
  
• Data securityand data processing assignmentrules - Salome Kurasbediani, Senior Lawyer of the Public Sector Oversight Department of the State Inspector’s Service.
  
  
• Cybersecurity, cyber hygiene  - Luka Khaladze, "Personal Data Protection Ambassador".
  
  
• Interaction of the right to personal data protection with other rights and legitimate interests - Ketevan Kukava, Rule of Law and Human Rights Direction Head of IDFI.
  
  
• Data subject rights, preconditions for restriction of these rights, data processing within labor relations - Lilly Taniashvili, Lawyer of the Private Sector Oversight Department of the State Inspector’s Service.
  
  
• Direct marketing, video surveillance, pandemic, and personal data - Lilly Taniashvili, Lawyer of the Private Sector Oversight Department of the State Inspector’s Service.
  
  
• Specifics of proceedings in the State Inspector's Service and issues envisaged by the new draft law on "Personal Data Protection"- Lilly Taniashvili, Lawyer of the Private Sector Oversight Department of the State Inspector’s Service.
  
  
• Personal data vs. public Information, the scope of the public institution's discretionary power in conflict resolution- Paata Turava, Professor at Tbilisi State University.
  
  

The activities envisaged by the agenda included balanced theoretical and practical components.

Within the summer school, participants nominated two best students: Maka Papashvili and Kalenike Uridya, while the trainers named Mariam Chikadze, Mariam Nutsubidze, and Mariam Kakhidze as outstanding students.

IDFI will continue to enhance students' knowledge by organizing similar events in the future.

The summer school was held within the frame of the Project “Promoting Personal Data Protection in Georgia” funded by the Embassy of the Netherlands in Georgia and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).

Event photos are available here.