The Adopta Association for Adoption Support is calling for changes to the personal identification number (OIB) and the unique citizen identification number (JMBG) for children adopted before 2015, that is, before the Family Law came into effect, which for the first time allowed adoptive parents to change the OIB of children, estimating that nearly three thousand children are at risk due to violations of privacy rights and personal data protection.
“Although there is increasing discussion about the importance of protecting children’s personal data, as many as three thousand adopted children have an old OIB, which causes them discomfort in their daily lives and allows for more severe violations of their privacy,” emphasizes Adopta in a statement released on Monday.
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The association points out that the most problems with the old OIB occur in healthcare, where parents find it difficult to schedule appointments for their children because the surname on the health card does not match the data revealed by the OIB, and that the birth data is used by e-matica, so old data is “pulled through” when children are enrolled in school.
Therefore, the association demands the protection of personal data and privacy for adopted children, specifically that changes to the OIB and JMBG be allowed, and has directed its request to the chairwoman of the Croatian Parliament’s Committee for Family, Youth and Sports, Nada Turini-Đurić, the Ombudsman for Children, Helena Pirnat Dragičević, and the director of the Agency for Personal Data Protection, Ante Rajkovača.
Adopta states that due to old OIBs, adopted children and their parents are exposed to gross and continuous violations of privacy rights and personal data protection, discrimination, and threats to their dignity, as their birth data and life details are accessible to medical staff, teachers, public officials, and many others.
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In this context, the association emphasizes that the most problems with the old OIB occur in healthcare, where parents find it difficult to schedule appointments for their children because the surname on the health card does not match the data revealed by the OIB, and that the birth data is used by e-matica, so old data is “pulled through” when children are enrolled in school. They also mention the case of a biological father who accessed the children’s new address through the OIB.
In recent years, Adopta notes, they have pointed out to the relevant ministries the need for a permanent solution to this problem, and in June 2016, they prepared a proposal for amendments to the Law on Personal Identification Numbers and the Family Law, but unfortunately without results. They also hope that the General Data Protection Regulation will help adopted children, which the European Union obliges Croatia to implement.
