On April 27, 2023, at 10:30 a.m., a round table was held on the topic: "Protection of personal data in the EU and third countries" in hall 301 of Academic building 6 of the SWU "Neofit Rilski"- Blagoevgrad and online on the BigBlueButton platform. The event is organized within the framework of project No. 101047808 with the name "European Data Protection: Post pandemic effects and new dimensions" (EDP - PPEND) headed by Associate Professor Nikolay Marin, Ph.D. The implementation of the project led by Assoc. Prof. Nikolay Marin, Ph.D. is realized with the financial support of the "Erasmus +" Program 2021-2027, an action under the "Jean Monnet Module" initiative in the field of higher education.
Prof. Ivanka Stankova, Ph.D.- Deputy Rector for Research and Doctoral Development at SWU ‘Neofit Rilski’, Prof. Diana Kovacheva, Ph.D.- Ombudsman of the Republic of Bulgaria, Assoc. Prof. Nikolay Marin, Ph.D.- Dean of the Faculty of Law and History in SWU ‘Neofit Rilski’ and Mr. Hristo Alaminov - Head of the "International Cooperation and Project Management" Department at the Commission for Personal Data Protection (CPDP).
The forum began with a presentation of the implementation of the two parts of the project by its leader - Associate Professor Nikolay Marin, Ph.D. The first part of its implementation consists in the introduction into the curricula of the course "Protection of personal data in the EU and third countries" with a 60-hour schedule (45 hours of lectures and 15 hours of exercises). It is studied by students in the "Law", "National Security", "International Relations" and "Finance" majors, and the introduction of the course in other majors at the university is pending. During the academic year 2021/2022, 153 students studied the discipline, while for the 2022/2023 year, 113 students did so. The second part of the implementation of the project consists in conducting student internships in the specialty, and for this purpose the SWU ‘Neofit Rilski’ has concluded agreements with the CPDP and the municipality of Blagoevgrad. The moderator of the first panel of the event was Ch. Assistant Professor Yordanka Noneva-Zlatkova, Ph.D. The Data Protection Officer (DPO) of the municipality of Blagoevgrad, professors, doctoral students and students at the university took part in it. The reports presented touched on the topics of personal data protection during their transfers to third countries, their protection in the digital environment, the responsibility of controllers in case of violation of the regulations on the protection of personal data, legitimate interest, the protection of passenger reservation data (PNR data), the economic dimensions of transfers, the supervision of compliance with legal acts in the processing of personal data by the judicial authorities, the protection of the personal data of children, the processing of data for the purposes of the employment relationship and the types of crimes that can be committed in the theft of personal data.
Assoc. Prof. Nikolay Marin, Ph.D. presented a report on a topic that continues its dynamic development, namely: "The new dialogue between the EU and the USA on the protection of personal data". The main objective before the EU and the USA is the creation of a new system for the exchange of personal data between them and mechanisms to protect the personal data of EU citizens. The practical aspects of transfers of personal data were examined by the DPO of Blagoevgrad Municipality, Mrs. Margarita Petkova. The report touched upon the legal mechanisms for the protection of personal data when they are transferred to third countries, as well as their application in practice. Ch. Associate Professor Maria Pascaleva from the Faculty of Economics of the SWU ‘Neofit Rilski’ presented the economic dimensions of personal data when they are transferred to third countries. Ph.D. student Augustin Yanchev presented a report on a relatively new and interesting problem regarding the protection of personal data during their transfer to third countries. He touched on the topic of the use of the TikTok application, how and where its employees carry out the processing of personal data, as well as which countries have introduced bans on access to the application through official phones of government officials.
Prof. Gabriela Belova, Ph.D. and Ch. Assistant Professor Anna Hristova, Ph.D. presented a joint report that traces the historical development of the protection of passenger reservation data (PNR data) and their protection at the present time. The types of liability in case of illegal processing of personal data were considered by ch. Assistant Professor Yordanka Noneva-Zlatkova, Ph.D. and ch. Assistant Prof. Vladimir Babanov, Ph.D. presented the types of crimes that can be committed in the theft of personal data. The subject of supervision of compliance with legal acts in the field of personal data protection during their processing by judicial authorities was analyzed by Ch. Assistant Prof. Milen Marinov, Ph.D.
Ph.D. students from the "Civil Sciences" department Maya Markova-Rusimova and Lyuba Markova-Lozanova also took a serious part in the forum. They presented reports on current issues, as PhD student Maya Markova-Rusimova touched on the problems of protecting the personal data of children, and PhD student Lyuba Markova-Lozzanova looked at the legitimate interest and consent as a basis for processing personal data when sending commercial messages. Practical experience was also shared by Ch. Assistant Prof. Desimira Yurukova, Ph.D. and aspects of the processing of personal data for the purposes of PR touched Ch. Assistant Prof. Radostina Mihailova from the "Public Relations" department.
A strong commitment to the problems related to the protection of personal data was also shown by the students of "Law" at the SWU ‘Neofit Rilski’ Borislava Gavazka, Antonio Kostadinov and Desislava Sotirova. Their developments focused on the topics of the main challenges to the protection of personal data and privacy in the digital world, as well as the processing of personal data for the purposes of the employment relationship.
The round table ended with a discussion on the topic and a summary of its results. Moderator of the second panel was Ch. Assistant Prof. Anna Hristova, Ph.D.
