Although not a member state of the European Union (EU), Bosnia and Herzegovina will have to apply a new EU law on the consumer data protection, known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), said Deputy Director of the Personal Data Protection Agency Samira Campara.

Speaking for N1, Campara explained that these regulations would not be applied in the EU only but by all business entities and organizations which have the seat in the EU and are processing the personal data.

“All companies with seat in the EU are obliged to apply this regulation as well as the companies that are not in the EU but process the personal data of the EU citizens,” she explained.

GDPR, coming into effect on May 25, 2018, is thought to be one of the most robust data privacy laws in the world, giving people the right to ask companies how their personal data is stored and being used, and also request that the personal data be deleted.

According to Campara, the personal data protection is raised to a significantly higher level with this comprehensive and complex regulation.

Bosnia and Herzegovina signed the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU, obliging itself to harmonize its own with the legislation of the European Union.