site.bta770 Personal Data Protection Complaints Filed in 2022

In 2022, the Commission for Personal Data Protection received a total of 770 complaints and 394 alerts for violations in the field of personal data protection and requests for specific actions submitted by natural and legal persons, public authorities and organizations, according to data from the annual report on the activities of the Commission for 2022. The report was adopted on Wednesday by Parliament with 132 votes in favour and six abstentions.

There was a slight decrease in the number of complaints compared to the previous year 2021. The video surveillance sector continues to lead in the number of complaints, although the number is lower than in 2021, with 178 recorded for 2022. 

Complaints against banks and credit services companies are on the rise.

There have also been complaints about the unlawful provision of personal data to debt collection companies to collect debts from individuals in the case of an expired statute of limitations, as well as allegations related to the use of personal data to grant loans without having requested and/or used them, especially those concluded in an electronic environment.

There has been a significant increase in complaints filed against political entities. There has also been an increase in the number of complaints lodged in the Labour and Social Security sector.

The more significant inspections carried out by the Commission were those of the Bulgarian Post EAD, the Central Bank Life, the Bulgarian Red Cross. Also of public interest is the case in which personal data of deceased persons from political parties and coalitions were processed in petitions for participation in the elections on October 2 2022.