Confidentiality and Data Protection Policy
The current data protection policy can be found at www.mfa.am.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs website publishes information from all Ministry departments. The IT group and Media and Public Diplomacy Department are in charge of the editorial, graphic and technical maintenance of the website.
The IT group is its host.
SPIP, Open Source Software distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL), has been used to create this website.
Your personal data is collected and processed on the MFA website by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, which is in charge of implementing Armenia’s foreign policy and conducting relations with foreign States.
Armenia has ratified the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 1950 (European Convention on Human Rights). Therefore, Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights applies to personal data protection in Armenia.
The Constitution of Armenia protects the right to protection of personal data. General rules concerning the processing of personal data are set out in the Law of Armenia on protection of personal data (Data Protection Law), which was adopted in 2015.
Users (hereinafter referred to as “you”), whose personal data is collected or is subject to collection, enjoy personal data protection rights.
In its capacity as data processor, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia commits to ensuring the respect for your privacy and protecting processed personal data:
- Legally, fairly and transparently with regard to the person concerned;
- Collected for a determined, explicit and legitimate purpose;
- Adequate, pertinent and limited to what is necessary with regard to the purposes for which they are processed;
- Processed in order to ensure the appropriate security of personal data.
Preamble: Definitions
- Personal data
The Law of Armenia on protection of personal data (Data Protection Law) broadly defines personal data to include any information relating to a natural person that allows or may allow that person to be identified directly or indirectly (Article 3(1), Data Protection Law)
- Data subjects’ rights
The data subjects have rights over their data including the right to access, information, rectification, blocking and deletion of the personal data.
- Data Protection Legislation
Indicates the legal corpus relating to personal data protection, including the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 1950 (European Convention on Human Rights), the Constitution of Armenia and the Law of Armenia on protection of personal data (Data Protection Law), which was adopted in 2015.
- Processors
The Law of Armenia on protection of personal data (Data Protection Law) guarantees the rights of natural persons (data subjects) and imposes mandatory requirements on personal data processors, authorised persons, and third parties.
The Data Protection Law defines a personal data processor as a person who organises or carries out personal data processing (Article 3(2), Data Protection Law).
Confidentiality and Data Protection Policy
This policy informs you of the conditions in which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia collects, processes, stores, archives and deletes your personal data. It also informs you of the rights that you have over your data.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia collects personal data concerning you when you voluntarily chose to transmit this data to us.
- What personal data does the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia process and collect?
- Cookies: When you visit this website, cookies are automatically stored on your computer, your mobile phone or your tablet.
A cookie is a text file stored on your computer when you visit a website or view an advertisement.
- Contact form: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia collects personal data concerning you when you voluntarily chose to transmit this data to us using the forms available online on this website.
Your personal information that you chose to indicate in your message (surname, first name, address) is stored in a database and accessible to staff responsible for website maintenance.
- What are the purposes and grounds for the collection of your personal data?
Cookies (Consent)
Facilitate users’ browsing by storing their data
To measure site visits and to suggest videos, sharing buttons and content from social platforms, and animated and interactive content.
Contact form (Consent)
To enable all users to contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia about a specific question it may be interested in.
Exercising rights (Legal requirement)
To reply to requests from data subjects with regard to the availability of this personal data, its processing in compliance with this policy.
- Who are the recipients of the personal data processed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia?
The only recipient of personal data that you may transmit is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, which processes it.
- What are the security measures implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia?
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia has committed to implementing all the technical and organizational measures to ensure the security of personal data processing and the confidentiality of your data, in compliance with the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 1950 (European Convention on Human Rights), the Constitution of Armenia and Data Protection Law.
Therefore, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia takes all the necessary security precautions with regard to the nature of your data and the risks involved in the processing in order to protect the confidentiality and the integrity of data. This consists of preventing data from being distorted or damaged or non-authorized third parties from having access.
- How long is personal data stored?
Cookies are stored one week.
Contact form
This data is stored one year, then moved to archive.
Exercising rights
This data is stored one year, then moved to archive.
III - Data subjects’ rights
What rights do you have?
The Law of Armenia on protection of personal data (Data Protection Law) recognizes a data subject’s right to:
Obtain information on their personal data, the processing of that data, the processing’s legal basis and purpose, the data processor and its registered office, and the persons to whom personal data may be transferred (Article 15(1) and (6), Data Protection Law).
Be familiarised with their personal data (Article 15(2), Data Protection Law).
Request that the processor rectify, block, or delete their personal data in certain cases (see Question 14) (Article 15(2), Data Protection Law).
Apply to the Personal Data Protection Agency (PDPA) to request that their personal data be rectified, blocked, or deleted, and request information on the processor’s rectification, blocking or deletion (Article 15(3), Data Protection Law).
Challenge the processor’s actions or inactions before the PDPA or through judicial proceedings, including claiming compensation for damages based on violations of the data subject’s constitutional rights (Article 17, Data Protection Law).
Data subjects may request that processors delete their personal data if the data:
- Is incomplete. • Is inaccurate. • Is outdated. • Has been obtained unlawfully. • Is not necessary to achieve the processing’s purposes
Data subjects may exercise these rights by submitting a written request (Article 15(5), Data Protection Law). Processors must provide requested information free of charge (Article 15(7), Data Protection Law).