As a result of the published information that the census materials are found in the private homes of enumerators, Koalicija Jednakost wishes to let the public know that these unlawful actions fully destroy the credibility and legitimacy, but also the legality of the census, and that the necessary conditions are not being met for the census results to be considered valid.
‘’We demand that the B&H Agency of Statistics take urgent measures to ensure the legal requirements for the census are met and to immediately let the public know. We call on citizens to refuse to further cooperate in the census process until these outrageous mistakes are not rectified and for the relevant institutions to present proof to the public’’, said Koalicija Jednakost.
The Census Commissions of local governments are, according to article 26, paragraph k of the Law on Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in B&H in 2013, required to provide ‘storage for census materials to meet the prescribed safety measures and conditions stipulated by the Law on Protection of Personal Data’’.
On this occasion, the team ‘Popis Monitora’ contacted several enumerators who conduct the census in several municipalities and received a confirmation from all that they have not been provided with a storeroom where they could leave the census materials at the end of the day. They were told to take the census forms home with them until they receive further instructions. In this way, not only do family members of enumerators have access to the census forms, but also any other person who is in their household while an enumerator is on the field during the day and there is no way to guarantee the confidentiality of personal information.
Since family members of the enumerators did not sign a confidentiality statement and they have no legal obligation to keep the information contained in the census forms a secret, a direct result of this intolerable omission is that a large number of unofficial persons will have access to personal information found in the census forms, and there are no legal consequences for this.
Because of this, Koalicija Jednakost will submit an application to the Agency for the Protection of Personal Data in B&H against the B&H Statistics Agency, Institute for Statistics of FB&H and Institute for Statistics of RS.
(Source: klix.ba)
