On 9 July 2024, Ombudswoman Tena Šimonović Einwalter participated in the session of the Committee on Finance and State Budget of the Croatian Parliament, where she presented comments on the Draft Proposal of the Central Population Register Act. The same comments were also presented during the session of the Committee on Human Rights and the Rights of National Minorities.
This is a new piece of legislation through which Croatia is, for the first time, introducing a centralized Central Population Register. It could bring about necessary and positive changes, including reducing the number of documents citizens will need to obtain and submit during procedures for exercising their rights. However, as this is an entirely new system, it is essential to carefully consider its impact on the exercise of human rights in order to develop the best possible legal framework.
The Register will contain a large volume of citizens’ personal data, which makes it especially important to clearly define everything related to the purpose and access to such data. At the same time, citizens must be informed about the reasons they are asked to disclose their personal data and how that data will be used.
The Ombudswoman particularly emphasized that this Act directly affects the exercise of multiple human rights and could also result in the violation of certain rights, including the right to privacy and the protection of personal data, as well as lead to discrimination. Establishing a Register that includes personal data on citizens’ characteristics which are protected grounds under the Anti-Discrimination Act, without clearly defined roles of data users and access authorizations, could lead to abuse and discrimination.
Additionally, under this proposal, the Register will replace the population census, making it even more important to strengthen citizens’ trust in the protection of their data. The fear of possible discrimination, including due to a lack of trust in the protection of personal data or fear of misuse, may deter individuals from providing personal data about their characteristics. This could lead to an inaccurate picture of the population’s characteristics and a reduction in existing rights, such as the rights of national minorities. These rights have so far been based on statistical data from the population census — in accordance with the Constitutional Act on the Rights of National Minorities, the census is used to determine the number of national minority members, which is the basis for the exercise of collective rights, such as the right to the official use of language or script, or the right to representation.
Moreover, an exceptionally large number of institutions will be using the data, including units of local and regional self-government and legal entities partially funded from public sources and entrusted with public authority, where a substantial number of individuals are employed. It must be clearly defined who among them will have access to which data, when, and for what purposes.
Given all of the above, the establishment of the Central Register must be regulated precisely and carefully, including through clear legislative provisions on the purposes of data collection, roles and access levels, as well as the responsibilities of users who will process this data. Otherwise, these elements will be regulated through ordinances or subordinate legislation, which do not go through parliamentary procedure, despite the potentially far-reaching effects on the human rights of individuals and groups.
For all these reasons, the Ombudswoman considers that the Act needs to be further refined before its final adoption.