PODGORICA, 04.12.2020. – Lists of persons who were issued a decision on mandatory self-isolation for a period of 14 days were published on the Government’s website on March 21. The lists contained the names and surnames of the citizens and the address of residence. “Let everyone know which of the neighbors and fellow citizens is putting them in danger,” it was stated, among other things, in the Twitter announcement of the Government, announcing that they will start publishing the names of those who violate self-isolation measures. The first list contained 1.022 names.
An angry and threatening tone was accompanied by the announcement of the Government that they have the consent of the Agency for Personal Data Protection and free access to information for this act.
Even before this decision, Vijesti wrote about how the list of persons in self-isolation with social security numbers circulated on social networks and the Internet by means of communication. The Government admitted that a large number of citizens are in possession of the list with personal identification numbers, and that they published screenshots from it on social networks, but that they are not to blame for the “mistake”. They called on the institutions to react and investigate the case.
Two days after the disputed decision of the Government, on March 23, the Civic Alliance submitted to the Constitutional Court an initiative to assess the constitutionality and legality of the Government’s decision to disclose the names of persons in isolation.
To the numerous negative reactions of non-governmental organizations and individuals, Prime Minister Dusko Markovic responds that they assessed that “the right to health and life is above the right to unconditional protection of personal data.” Sharing the Prime Minister’s opinion in Pobjeda, on March 24, a list of over a thousand names and surnames of persons in self-isolation is printed on four pages, with their addresses and house numbers, all neatly sorted by municipalities.
The initiative is also taken by zealous individuals accustomed to new technologies, so the same week when the Government and the National Coordination Body (NKT) published their list, a website was created on which the author, using this information, “helps” citizens see how far they are from those in self-isolation.
“The goal of this application is prevention and insight into the new epidemic. The distance is not 100 percent accurate and depends on your device and on the addresses that we take from the Government’s website,” it is written on the page, whose internet address was registered on March 22, the day after the Government made the decision to publish the lists. The page, as well as the public lists of the Government, contains names and surnames, addresses and dates when these persons were ordered the self-isolation measures”, Vijesti wrote at the end of March.
In July, the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms, Sinisa Bjekovic, requested a detailed investigation from the Ministry of Public Administration (MPA) in the case of the web page crnagorakorona.com/home in order to prevent unjustified interference with the personal data of individuals.
It is interesting that the Government came up with the same idea: “The line ministry of Suzana Pribilovic asked the AZLP Council for an opinion on whether there are obstacles to using citizens’ data name and surname, address of self-isolation, date of self-isolation, phone number, email address, which would be processed on servers outside Montenegro in one of the EU member states”,Vijesti learned in October with explaination from the Government that it was only an idea “which was considered in the first wave of coronavirus, and which was abandoned”.
Encouraging from the government to publicly designate neighbors and the “irresponsible” has had effects for some media, so Dnevne novine, on March 28, published an article informing the public that “Marina Medojevic, the wife of one of the DF leaders Nebojsa Medojevic and the president of the NGO The food bank violates the orderd of the Government of Montenegro and, not only leaves her apartment, but also gives statements to the media, although she should be in self-isolation in the period from March 17 to 31.” They explained that this information was reported to Dnevne novine by readers: “and as proof of accuracy, it is possible to see the report on poverty in Montenegro on the TV Vijesti, which was broadcast on March 19.”
At the beginning of April, Pobjeda reported as scandalous the information that a list with data from more than 60 people who had the coronavirus was forwarded to many telephone numbers. “According to the first findings, the list did not leak from the security services, nor was the communication system hacked,” Pobjeda writes, explaining that the government strongly condemned this act.
At the beginning of May, the NKT and the Government abruptly stopped publishing the list of patients. Precise data on how many people were on the list from March 21, when the Government published the first names, until May 7, when it withdrew it from the official website, do not exist. The list is updated on a daily basis. And according to the data of the Health and Sanitary Inspection, only in the period from March 15 to April 24, more than 10,000 people were issued a decision on mandatory self-isolation or quarantine.
On July 23, the Constitutional Court ruled positively on the initiative of the civil sector and issued a decision officially revoking the decision to publish lists of persons in self-isolation. The Constitutional Court initiated the procedure for assessing the constitutionality of the NKT decision, at the initiative of the NGO Civic Alliance, at its session on May 29. The Judge Rapporteur is of the opinion that the publication of personal data on persons in self-isolation has created a precondition for their stigmatization, as well as that their data can be used by an unlimited number of citizens. It could also deter those who needed medical help from seeking help.
Even after the decision of the Constitutional Court, various media coverage continues. Thus, Pobjeda integrally conveys the explanation of the President of the Council of the Agency for Personal Data Protection, Sreten Radonjic, in which he claims that the NKT’s request to publish the names of people in self-isolation is not contrary to the Law on Personal Data Protection, and that the positive opinion was based on provisions of international law and domestic legislation, while Dan writes that Radonjic opposes the Constitutional Court.
Dan wrote at the end of August that even after a month they did not receive answers from the Government on how many names they published, and whether they will sanction those who proposed and adopted the decision to publish lists, what sanctions can be expected for violating the Constitution, and who will be sanctioned?
The scandal on the publication of the lists will have an epilogue in court. Due to the publication of the list of persons who were ordered to self-isolate and part of the list of those infected with the coronavirus, about 250 victims announced a lawsuit against the Government and the state.
* This article is published within the program Union to Union 2020, financed by International federation of journalists.
