Personal Data Protection Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina has prohibited disclosure of personal information on SARS-CoV-2 positive persons, as well as persons who are subject to isolation and self-isolation measures to competent institutions at all levels of government acting in an emergency situation.

The institutions were also ordered to immediately remove and block personal information about SARS-CoV-2 positive persons, as well as of  those who comply with certain isolation and self-isolation measures, whose information was publicly disclosed, according to a response sent to us by the Agency.

Sarajevo Open Centre has previously sent a letter to the Personal Data Protection Agency in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Institution of the Ombudsman for Human Rights of BiH regarding the protection of personal data of persons who have been issued an isolation decision.

We have warned that the disclosure of personal information in these cases can cause labeling, stigmatization and eventual lynching, both for those who do not comply and for those who comply with the prescribed measures.

We believe that the disclosure of the personal information has no legal basis that would remove their protection or restrict the right to privacy in relation to the health status of persons, and that it is a violation of the Law on Protection of Personal Data, violation of the right to privacy as one of the basic human rights, and violation of entity Patient Rights Law.