On the 27th and 28th of April 2009 an inspection was carried out in the area of personal data protection for the readiness of the Republic of Bulgaria to join the area of the Schengen agreement.
In September 2007 the Republic of Bulgaria deposited to the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU its Declaration of readiness for starting the Schengen evaluation on the 1st of January 2008. With the Declaration the Republic of Bulgaria declared its readiness to finalize its preparation for the full implementation of the provision of the Schengen legislation with a view of removal of its internal border control in 2011. Personal data protection is one of the areas which are subjects of inspection.
The first day of the inspection was carried out at the Commission for Personal Data Protection. The legislation for personal data protection in Bulgaria, the institutional position, activities, authorities of CPDP, and the individual rights, according to the existing legal regulations in Bulgaria, were presented to the inspecting team. Attention was paid to the control powers of the commission, and the inspections carried out on the personal data controllers.
On the 28th of April the inspecting team was acquainted with the data protection in the Ministry of Interior, and with the procedure of issuing a visa from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Subjects of the inspection were the information funds of the Ministry of Interior, the access and processing of data, the legal framework for data protection, and the corresponding organizational structures. The elements of information security during automated processing – security measures, access control and storage of data, were presented in the main computer centre of the Ministry of Interior. The data processing and protection during the building SIS-2 were also presented. The inspecting team was acquainted with the physical and logistics protection, and with the realization of access to the Schengen Information System during the consultation about visa issuing.
As a result of the inspection a report will be prepared about the readiness of Bulgaria to join the Schengen area.
