Data Protection Day Conference and GDPR Success Story Awards

The State Data Protection Inspectorate (hereinafter referred to as SDPI) together with the Lithuanian data protection community this year marks the 20th International Data Protection Day. On this occasion, a conference entitled "Personal data protection and AI: (not) on the same path" was organized, as well as the traditional GDPR Success Story awards.

Conference

Minister of Justice Rita Tamašunienė, speaking on a welcome note, thanked the entire community working in the field of personal data protection for its contribution to fostering the data protection system and addressing the challenges related to the issues of information technology, the impact of artificial intelligence on humans, cybersecurity, and social responsibility in this area.

Ms Tamašunienė emphasized that in today's world, with the rapid development of digital technologies, we can view data protection as a digital space that can contribute to improving the efficiency and quality of the justice system by responding to the challenges in the development of innovation processes. However, according to the Minister, we must always see the person and defend their interests in order to maintain a person-centred approach as digital progress takes place, because when we store data, we are actually protecting the person.

SDPI Director Dijana Šinkūnienė, congratulating the Lithuanian data protection community on this occasion, thanked for the daily work and efforts to protect fundamental human rights and personal privacy, public education and the promotion of a data protection culture. She was also pleased that the initiative GDPR Success Story, which has been organized for a third year, has been receiving more and more nominations and stories. This, according to the Director of SDPI, shows that more and more organizations are successfully overcoming the challenges of personal data protection, applying innovative solutions to various data protection issues and actively sharing best practices with their colleagues and the public.

The main focus of the conference and discussion was how to protect personal privacy in the age of AI: whether it is possible to combine the protection of personal data with rapidly evolving technologies, legal regulation, and societal progress, and whether AI will ultimately serve the individual.

The speakers unanimously agreed that the protection of personal data and AI must go hand in hand if we are to achieve societal progress, but the focus must always remain on the individual. By deploying innovative solutions and technologies, our main goal is to maintain critical thinking and implement basic human rights. The priority is not regulations and rules, but the person. According to the participants of the discussion, laws are not created to control, but to protect people's financial, social, privacy and other important human needs. We must not forget that AI is just an instrument, a technology. It is crucial for the progress of society, for the optimization of processes, for increasing efficiency, but it cannot replace the person, their creativity and thinking.

The festive mood and active discussion were moderated by the host of the event - digital content creator, writer, prose writer and screenwriter Aidas Puklevičius.

We would like to thank our conference presenter and speakers, everyone who attended our event and watched the live broadcast, as well as those who participated in the GDPR Success Story contest and who contribute every day to the protection of privacy and transparent processing of personal data.

Awards

The GDPR Success Story personal data protection awards are now in their third year. The initiative is supported by the Ministry of Justice.

The competition is open to anyone interested in the protection of personal data and privacy, who has faced and successfully overcome the challenges associated with the implementation of the requirements of the GDPR, who seeks to ensure that the right to the protection of our personal data is exercised in a transparent manner.

The organisers have noted that more and more success stories are presented every year. This shows that more and more organisations and people are aware of the importance and relevance of personal data protection and want to share best practices with others.

We hope that this meaningful and useful initiative will carry on and will invite more and more people who care about data security to share their good practices.

The best stories were evaluated and the nominees were selected by a special commission formed by SDPI.

The personal data protection awards GDPR Success Story have been presented to:

RŪTA DUBOSAITĖ, Data Protection Officer of Kaunas City Municipality Administration, for her active activities in bringing together data protection officers of Lithuanian municipalities in a common forum where good practices in the implementation of GDPR requirements are actively shared; as well as for leadership and initiatives promoting cooperation between municipalities.

ONA VALAINIENĖ, Data Protection Officer of UAB Vinted, for professional and long-term value-creating contribution to the protection of personal data in the organization, development of educational activities and cooperation with institutions based on mutual respect.

UAB VINTED PAY for the development and implementation of an internal privacy and security management maturity assessment system that integrates the requirements of the GDPR and the DORA Regulation and promotes continuous improvement in the organization, as well as enhancing consumer confidence.

The DATA PROTECTION DIVISION of the VILNIUS CITY MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION, for the development and implementation of an interactive and innovative personal data protection training platform and for the provision of methodological assistance to subordinate institutions.

THE BANK OF LITHUANIA, for the development and implementation of an innovative and interactive e-learning platform and for the promotion of personal data protection culture in the community.

THE STATE CONSUMER RIGHTS PROTECTION AUTHORITY, for the application of artificial intelligence solutions in the public sector - the creation of a data anonymization tool that helps to ensure compliance with the requirements of the GDPR.

COMPETENCE DEVELOPMENT UNIT OF THE PARTNERSHIP AND COMPETENCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF THE NATIONAL CYBER SECURITY CENTRE AT THE MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEFENCE, for professionally organized large-scale exercises to strengthen the competencies of the public and private sectors to manage cyber incidents and personal data breaches.

Dr. AURIMIS ŠIDLAUSKIS, a lecturer at the Institute of Business and Economics of Mykolas Romeris University, for his contribution to science by seeking solutions to create a model for the safe management of personal data in cyberspace that helps to ensure more effective protection of personal data.

On the occasion of Data Protection Day, six employees of SDPI and the Office of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics were thanked for the impeccable performance of their duties.

The State Data Protection Inspectorate (hereinafter referred to as SDPI) together with the Lithuanian data protection community this year marks the 20th International Data Protection Day. On this occasion, a conference entitled "Personal data protection and AI: (not) on the same path" was organized, as well as the traditional GDPR Success Story awards.

Conference

Minister of Justice Rita Tamašunienė, speaking on a welcome note, thanked the entire community working in the field of personal data protection for its contribution to fostering the data protection system and addressing the challenges related to the issues of information technology, the impact of artificial intelligence on humans, cybersecurity, and social responsibility in this area.

Ms Tamašunienė emphasized that in today's world, with the rapid development of digital technologies, we can view data protection as a digital space that can contribute to improving the efficiency and quality of the justice system by responding to the challenges in the development of innovation processes. However, according to the Minister, we must always see the person and defend their interests in order to maintain a person-centred approach as digital progress takes place, because when we store data, we are actually protecting the person.

SDPI Director Dijana Šinkūnienė, congratulating the Lithuanian data protection community on this occasion, thanked for the daily work and efforts to protect fundamental human rights and personal privacy, public education and the promotion of a data protection culture. She was also pleased that the initiative GDPR Success Story, which has been organized for a third year, has been receiving more and more nominations and stories. This, according to the Director of SDPI, shows that more and more organizations are successfully overcoming the challenges of personal data protection, applying innovative solutions to various data protection issues and actively sharing best practices with their colleagues and the public.

The main focus of the conference and discussion was how to protect personal privacy in the age of AI: whether it is possible to combine the protection of personal data with rapidly evolving technologies, legal regulation, and societal progress, and whether AI will ultimately serve the individual.

The speakers unanimously agreed that the protection of personal data and AI must go hand in hand if we are to achieve societal progress, but the focus must always remain on the individual. By deploying innovative solutions and technologies, our main goal is to maintain critical thinking and implement basic human rights. The priority is not regulations and rules, but the person. According to the participants of the discussion, laws are not created to control, but to protect people's financial, social, privacy and other important human needs. We must not forget that AI is just an instrument, a technology. It is crucial for the progress of society, for the optimization of processes, for increasing efficiency, but it cannot replace the person, their creativity and thinking.

The festive mood and active discussion were moderated by the host of the event - digital content creator, writer, prose writer and screenwriter Aidas Puklevičius.

We would like to thank our conference presenter and speakers, everyone who attended our event and watched the live broadcast, as well as those who participated in the GDPR Success Story contest and who contribute every day to the protection of privacy and transparent processing of personal data.

Awards

The GDPR Success Story personal data protection awards are now in their third year. The initiative is supported by the Ministry of Justice.

The competition is open to anyone interested in the protection of personal data and privacy, who has faced and successfully overcome the challenges associated with the implementation of the requirements of the GDPR, who seeks to ensure that the right to the protection of our personal data is exercised in a transparent manner.

The organisers have noted that more and more success stories are presented every year. This shows that more and more organisations and people are aware of the importance and relevance of personal data protection and want to share best practices with others.

We hope that this meaningful and useful initiative will carry on and will invite more and more people who care about data security to share their good practices.

The best stories were evaluated and the nominees were selected by a special commission formed by SDPI.

The personal data protection awards GDPR Success Story have been presented to:

RŪTA DUBOSAITĖ, Data Protection Officer of Kaunas City Municipality Administration, for her active activities in bringing together data protection officers of Lithuanian municipalities in a common forum where good practices in the implementation of GDPR requirements are actively shared; as well as for leadership and initiatives promoting cooperation between municipalities.

ONA VALAINIENĖ, Data Protection Officer of UAB Vinted, for professional and long-term value-creating contribution to the protection of personal data in the organization, development of educational activities and cooperation with institutions based on mutual respect.

UAB VINTED PAY for the development and implementation of an internal privacy and security management maturity assessment system that integrates the requirements of the GDPR and the DORA Regulation and promotes continuous improvement in the organization, as well as enhancing consumer confidence.

The DATA PROTECTION DIVISION of the VILNIUS CITY MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION, for the development and implementation of an interactive and innovative personal data protection training platform and for the provision of methodological assistance to subordinate institutions.

THE BANK OF LITHUANIA, for the development and implementation of an innovative and interactive e-learning platform and for the promotion of personal data protection culture in the community.

THE STATE CONSUMER RIGHTS PROTECTION AUTHORITY, for the application of artificial intelligence solutions in the public sector - the creation of a data anonymization tool that helps to ensure compliance with the requirements of the GDPR.

COMPETENCE DEVELOPMENT UNIT OF THE PARTNERSHIP AND COMPETENCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF THE NATIONAL CYBER SECURITY CENTRE AT THE MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEFENCE, for professionally organized large-scale exercises to strengthen the competencies of the public and private sectors to manage cyber incidents and personal data breaches.

Dr. AURIMIS ŠIDLAUSKIS, a lecturer at the Institute of Business and Economics of Mykolas Romeris University, for his contribution to science by seeking solutions to create a model for the safe management of personal data in cyberspace that helps to ensure more effective protection of personal data.

On the occasion of Data Protection Day, six employees of SDPI and the Office of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics were thanked for the impeccable performance of their duties.