On the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the accession of the Republic of San Marino to the Council of Europe, H.E. Foreign Minister Luca Beccari deposited the instrument of ratification of the Amending Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to the Processing of Personal Data (CETS No. 223), in the presence of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Ambassador Eros Gasperoni, Permanent Representative of San Marino to the Council of Europe, and Ms Elsa Mein, the Chair of Convention 108 Committee.

San Marino has been a Party to Convention 108 since 2015, and now joins the fast growing number of countries, which are Parties to the modernised Convention 108+.

This is yet another step and recognition by numerous countries of the importance and need for that landmark instrument, which is a unique tool of regulatory harmonisation and convergence mapping out the route to a free data transfer area that preserves human dignity and privacy. Convention 108, and its amended version Convention 108+, remains the only global international legally binding instrument protecting personal data and the right to privacy.

With this move, only seven ratifications are left to make Convention 108+ a key to addressing the challenges posed by the growing use of new technologies in an increasingly digitised world.