Personal data of LGBT+ people in Georgia often risks being disclosed by journalists, says EU and UNDP study

Personal data of LGBT+ people in Georgia is often illegally disclosed by journalists and occasionally by health workers, law enforcement agencies and lawyers. This is the conclusion of a study conducted by a Georgian non-governmental organisation  ‘Rule of Law Centre’ supported by the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme.

The research, ‘The State of Personal Data Protection of the LGBT+ Community Members in Georgia’, examines widespread practices related to the personal data protection of LGBTQI+ people and provides recommendations for public agencies and the civil and private sectors to raise existing standards and fill in the gaps.

For example, the study found that media and journalists often disclose information about sexual orientation and gender identity of LGBT+ persons, including without their consent, in an improper volume and form. 

Sometimes data of the LGBT+ community members are processed by the healthcare sector, without a legal basis, including for non-official (personal) purposes. The data is gathered from the community members in a degrading manner, the report says.

Similar problems exist with how employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs process the data of the LGBT+ community members. Sometimes information provided by a LGBT+ person during an interview and/or information available in a criminal case is disclosed to unauthorised third parties. 

In some cases, lawyers giving interviews to the media and/or through a social network have disclosed personal information, including sexual orientation of a participant in a court process in an unethical, degrading manner, and without proper legal grounds.

Another problem is the processing of personal data in the workplace, as employers often dismiss LGBT+ people from their jobs when they learn about the gender identity or sexual orientation of employees.

The study concludes that LGBT+ persons have little information about the protection and confidentiality of personal data and data protection mechanisms and, fearing retribution, do not contact data protection authorities and investigative bodies.

Find out more

Press release

Dowload study in English