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Law No. 676 Of 21 November 2001 Concerning The Processing Of Personal Data And The Protection Of Privacy In The Telecommunications Sector

Original Language Title:  LEGE nr. 676 din 21 noiembrie 2001 privind prelucrarea datelor cu caracter personal şi protecţia vieţii private în sectorul telecomunicaţiilor

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LEGE no. 676 676 of 21 November 2001 on the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the telecommunications sector
ISSUER PARLIAMENT
Published in OFFICIAL MONITOR no. 800 800 of 14 December 2001



The Romanian Parliament adopts this law Object + Article 1 (1) The present law ensures the specific conditions for guaranteeing the right to the protection of privacy with regard to the processing of personal data in the telecommunications sector. (2) The provisions of this Law shall apply to the operators of public telecommunications networks and to the providers of telecommunications services intended for the public who, in the performance of their duties, treat personal data. (3) The provisions of this Law shall be supplemented by the legal provisions regarding the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (4) This law does not apply to the processing of personal data carried out: a) within the framework of national defence and national security activities, carried out within the limits and with the restrictions established by law; b) in the framework of activities of prevention, research and repression of crimes and of maintaining public order, as well as in other activities in the field of criminal law, carried out within the limits and with the restrictions established by law. Definitions + Article 2 For the purposes of this Law, the following terms shall be defined as follows: 1. telecommunication service-a service whose supply consists, in whole or in part, in the transmission and direction of signals in telecommunications networks, with the exception of broadcasting and television; 2. telecommunication service for the public-any telecommunications service, except for those necessary exclusively to the supplier or to a closed group of users; 3. provider of telecommunications services to the public-legal person providing a telecommunications service for the public; 4. public telecommunications network-transmission systems and, where applicable, switching equipment and other resources that allow the transmission of signals between defined terminal points, by wire, radio, by optimal or electromagnetic means, which are used in whole or in part for the provision of telecommunications services to the public; 5. operator of the public telecommunications network-legal person authorized to install or operate a public telecommunications network, for the purpose of providing telecommunications services to the public; 6. subscriber-any natural or legal person who has entered into a contract with the telecommunications service provider to the public in order to provide such services; 7. user-any individual beneficiary of a telecommunications service intended for the public, for private or professional purposes, without necessarily being subscribed to this service; 8. personal data-any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person; an identifiable person is that person who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to a number of identification or to one or more elements specific to its physical, physiological, mental, economic, cultural or social identity; 9. processing of personal data-any operation or set of operations that are carried out on personal data by automatic or non-automatic means, such as collection, recording, organization, storage, adaptation or the modification, extraction, consultation, use, disclosure to third parties by transmission, dissemination or in any other way, joining or combining, blocking, erasure or destruction; 10. the regulatory authority-the authority provided for in art. 5 5 para. ((1) of the Telecommunications Law no. 74/1996 ; 11. the supervisory authority-the authority that monitors and controls in terms of legality the treatments of personal data that fall under the legal provisions governing the protection of individuals with regard to the treatment personal data and the free movement of such data; 12. subscriber registers-databases, in written or electronic form, public or publicly accessible through a service of consultation or used by third parties for commercial purposes, containing personal data of subscribers; 13. detailed invoice-the sum of the information relating to the lines called or to the lines that call or information regarding the date and duration of each call. Security measures + Article 3 (1) The supplier of a telecommunications service to the public and the operator of the public telecommunications network providing that service must take all appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure security service and network. (2) The measures adopted must ensure a level of safety at risk, corresponding to the state of technological development and the costs of implementing these measures. (3) The minimum security requirements adopted as a preventive measure will be determined by the regulatory authority within 6 months from the date of entry into force of this Law. (4) Requirements established according to par. (3) will be reviewed by the regulatory authority, in accordance with the stage of technical development and with experience in the field, within 2 years from the date of entry into force of this law and subsequently at intervals that cannot be more than 2 years. (5) The supplier of a telecommunications service to the public is obliged to inform subscribers in the event that he becomes aware of the occurrence of a special risk of breach of network security. The information will also refer to possible remedies, as well as the costs of their application. (6) The information provided in par. ((5) shall also be submitted to the public authority competent for the protection of persons with regard to the processing of personal data Communication confidentiality + Article 4 ((1) The confidentiality of communications by means of a public telecommunications network or by recourse to a telecommunications service for the public is guaranteed. ((2) Listening, recording, storage or any other form of interception or surveillance of communications shall be prohibited, except in the following cases: a) is carried out by the users participating in the respective communication; b) the users participating in the respective communication have given their prior written consent; c) is carried out in the exercise of prerogatives of public authority, under the law. (3) A user or subscriber, respectively, is required to inform the other user or subscriber, respectively, when equipment is used during the conversation that allows this talk to be heard, recorded or stored. by other people. + Article 5 Telecommunications services and in particular developing telephone services will be provided with respect to the privacy of users, the secrecy of correspondence and freedom of communication. + Article 6 Any interference by public authorities in the content of a communication, including the use of means of interception or surveillance of communications, shall be prohibited, except where such interference is provided by law and constitutes a necessary measure in a democratic society for: a) protection of state security, public security, monetary interests of the state or the fight against crime; b) the protection of the person concerned, at its request, or the rights and freedoms of other persons. + Article 7 In the event of interference by public authorities in the content of a communication the authorization law must provide: a) the manner of exercising by the person concerned the rights of access and rectification; b) the conditions under which the competent public authorities will be entitled to refuse to give information to the person concerned; c) how to preserve or destroy such data. + Article 8 ((1) The operators of public telecommunications networks or telephony networks or providers of telecommunications services for the public cannot communicate the data obtained on the occasion of interference in the content of a communication only to the person designated in authorization issued under the law to obtain such data. ((2) Authorisation of operators of public telecommunications networks to intervene in the content of a communication, including by means of interpretation or surveillance of telephone calls, and the use of technical means for the location of the origin of abusive calls will be made only with the provision of constitutional conditions and guarantees for the exercise of fundamental rights and freedoms recognized by law. Traffic and billing data + Article 9 (1) Traffic data, which concern subscribers and users, processed in order to establish calls made and stored by the provider of a telecommunications service intended for the public or by the operator of a network public telecommunications for the public, must be deleted or made anonymous at the end of the communication, without violating the provisions of par. ((2)-(4). (2) Processing of data containing: number or identification of subscriber's post, subscriber's address and type of post, total number of units to be invoiced for the metering period, number of subscriber called, type, moment of commencement and the duration of the calls made or the volume of data transmitted, the date of the call or service, other information relating to payments, such as advance payment, payments for installations, disconnections and arrears, made for the purpose of drawing up subscriber bills or the establishment of payments for interconnection, is only permitted until the fulfillment of a period of 3 years from the due date of the payment obligation corresponding to the invoice, respectively from the due date of the payment obligation corresponding to the interconnection. (3) The supplier of a telecommunications service for the public may only process the significant data provided in par. (2), with a view to marketing or marketing its own services, only after the notification of the subscriber and with its express consent. ((4) Access to and processing of traffic and billing data should be limited to persons acting by virtue of a service obligation, in relation to the telecommunications service provider intended for the public or, respectively, with the operator of the public telecommunications network, and who have as their duties the billing or traffic management, the resolution of customer requests, the detection of fraud or the marketing of their own telecommunications services of the supplier or Their processing should be limited to the data that are required for the performance of those duty obligations. (5) Provisions of para. ((1)-(4) may not be invoked for the purpose of limiting the access of the competent authorities to traffic or billing data, under the law, for the purpose of resolving disputes, especially those relating to interconnection or billing. Detailed invoicing + Article 10 (1) Subscribers receive undetailed invoices. (2) The issuance of detailed invoices is made at the request of subscribers, in compliance with the rights to the protection of privacy of subscribers and users, under the law. (. The categories of information which may be contained in the detailed invoices shall be determined by the regulatory authority. Offering and restricting the service of identifying the line to which it appeals or the line called + Article 11 (1) The user who appeals has the right to be made available, free of charge, by the provider of the telecommunications service to the public or by the operator of the public telecommunications network a simple process to eliminate the presentation of the respective data for each call, where a service for the identification of the calling line is also offered. ((2) The subscriber who appeals has the right to be made available, free of charge, by the provider of the telecommunications service to the public or by the operator of the public telecommunications network a simple procedure for the disposal of the presentation of the identification data of the line calling, for each line, in the case provided in par. ((1). (3) The enlisted subscriber has the right to be made available by the provider of the telecommunications service to the public or by the operator of the public telecommunications network, free of charge, in the case of non-abusive use, a process simple to eliminate the presentation of the line identification data for incoming calls, in the case provided in par. ((1). (4) The called subscriber has the right to be offered by the provider of the telecommunications service to the public or by the operator of the public telecommunications network a possibility to reject the call received, when the data of identification of the line that appeals have been removed by the subscriber or user who appeals, in the case provided in par. ((1), if the identification data of the line calling are indicated before the start of the conversation. (5) The called subscriber has the right to be made available, free of charge, by the provider of the telecommunications service to the public or by the operator of the public telecommunications network a simple process to eliminate the presentation the identification data of the line called towards the user calling, if a service for the presentation of the identification data of the call line is also offered. (6) Provisions of para. (1) and (2) will also be applicable to appeals to other countries, coming from Romania, and the provisions of par. (3)-(5) will also be applicable to calls to Romania coming from other countries. (7) The providers of telecommunications services intended for the public have the obligation to inform the public about the services of presentation of these data, as well as about the rights provided in par. ((1)-(6), where the identification data of the calling line or of the call line is also offered. Derogatory provisions + Article 12 A telecommunications service provider to the public, i.e. an operator of a public telecommunications network, may derogate from the provisions relating to the identification of the calling line, provided that it is known the public of the procedures by which these derogations are carried out, in the a) temporarily, following the request of a subscriber regarding the detection of the source of abusive calls; in this case the identification data of the line that appeals will be stored and accessible, under the law; b) for each line, for organizations that receive emergency calls, specially recognized in this regard, under the law, such as: police stations, fire units or ambulance services. Automatic redirection of call + Article 13 Each subscriber has the right to be made available, free of charge, by the provider of the telecommunications service to the public or by the operator of the public telecommunications network a simple process to block the redirection automatic, carried out by a third party, of calls to the terminal equipment of that subscriber. Subscriber registers + Article 14 (1) The providers of telecommunication services are required to include in the registers of the subscribers they draw up or to make available to third parties that draw up such registers only the personal data necessary to identify a subscriber specifically, except in cases where that subscriber has given express consent to the inclusion of additional data. ((2) Any subscriber has the right to request, free of charge: a) not to be included in a subscriber register; b) the registration of the claim that his personal data cannot be used by third parties for the purpose of direct marketing; c) the registration of his address only partially; d) no mention should be made of sex, where this is linguistically possible. Unsolicited calls + Article 15 Unsolicited calls, made for the purpose of direct marketing through the use of automated calling systems that do not require the intervention of a human operator, by fax or by any other methods, are prohibited, unless the subscriber He has previously expressed his express consent to that effect. Liability + Article 16 (1) Failure to comply with the provisions of this law shall entail disciplinary, contravention, civil or criminal liability, as appropriate. (2) Telecommunication service providers intended for the public or/and the operators of public telecommunications networks shall respond to users for the actual damage caused by non-performance or improper performance of their obligations return under the present law. Contraventions and penalties + Article 17 (1) It constitutes the following facts, if not committed under such conditions that, according to the criminal law, to constitute crimes: a) non-adoption or incomplete adoption of the minimum security requirements referred to in art. 3 3 para. ((3) and (4); b) failure to fulfill the obligation of information provided in art. 3 3 para. ((5) and (6); c) failure to fulfill the obligation of confidentiality provided in art. 4 4 para. ((2) and (3); d) non-compliance by public authorities, respectively by the operators of public telecommunications or telephone networks or by telecommunications service providers intended for the public, of the obligations provided in art. 5 5, 6, 7 and 8; e) non-fulfillment of obligations regarding the processing and limitation of access to personal data, provided in art. 9 9; f) violation of the rights of subscribers provided in art. 10, by or with regard to the issuance of detailed invoices; g) failure to fulfill the obligations regarding the provision of the service of identification of the line that appeals, respectively of the line called, provided in art. 11 11; h) failure to fulfill the obligation regarding the provision of the automatic redirection service, provided in art. 13 13; i) failure to fulfill the obligations regarding the preparation of the register of subscribers, provided in art. 14 14; j) initiating an unsolicited appeal, in violation of art. 15. (2) Contraventions provided in par. (1) is sanctioned with a fine from 10,000,000 lei to 250,000,000 lei. (3) Contraventions provided in par. ((1) lit. a)-d) shall be found by the staff of the regulatory authority, as well as by authorized representatives of the bodies with powers of supervision and control, empowered according to the law. (4) For the contraventions provided in par. ((1) lit. a)-d) the regulatory authority may also order the suspension or cancellation of the license or authorization. (5) Contraventions provided in par. ((1) lit. e)-j) shall be found by the staff of the supervisory authority and the authorized representatives of the bodies with powers of supervision and control, empowered according to the law. (6) The provisions of this Law shall be supplemented by Government Ordinance no. 2/2001 on the legal regime of contraventions. (7) The amount of fines provided for in this Law may be updated by Government Decision, depending on the evolution of the inflation index. Final and transitional provisions + Article 18 This Law shall enter into force 3 months from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I. This law was adopted by the Senate at the meeting of October 22, 2001, in compliance with the provisions of art 74 74 para. (2) of the Romanian Constitution. p. SENATE PRESIDENT, ALEXANDRU ATHANASIU This law was adopted by the Chamber of Deputies at the meeting of October 29, 2001, in compliance with the provisions of 74 74 para. (2) of the Romanian Constitution. CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES PRESIDENT VALER DORNEANU --------