The law with overly broad protections of personal data came into force on Jan. 1, Ukrainska Pravda news site reports. Human rights activists decry the law as a serious infringement on freedom of speech and the public's freedom of access to information.
Ukraine human rights organizations urged President Viktor Yanukovych to postpone the enactment of the law, and the Helsinki human rights group called it “a significant step in building totalitarianism in Ukraine.”
Helsinki executive director Volodymyr Yavorsky said the law vaguely defines the term “personal data,” possibly to include any information which makes it possible to identify a person, the BBC quotes Yavorsky as saying. Read more
