The freedom of communication expresses the right of everyone to send and receive information, that is to say the right to speak and learn. This freedom is now universally recognized as a pillar of democratic societies. This freedom is granted not only to the citizens but also to those involved in information diffusion, data hosting and providers of online access. Freedom of communication is however limited by the requirements of public safety, by the respect of fundamental laws and more remarkably, by the protection of personal data.
The increasing use of the new technologies and especially the Internet leads to a countless accumulation of information about the individual’s behavior. Therefore a Lebanese government website
must include a Privacy Statement that governs the collection of these data by rules of fairness and transparency and to protect the privacy of each citizen. The policy
should specify why the data is being collected, and under what conditions will the data be disclosed to anyone if necessary.
Generally, the main types of data affected by data privacy issues relate to health information, criminal justice, financial information, genetic information and location information. Inadequate or non-existent disclosure control mechanisms represent the main cause for privacy problems, particularly because uniquely identifiable data related to a person or persons can be collected and stored in a digital format.
Use of Cookies Cookies are defined as small pieces of text stored on a user's computer by a web browser to keep track of the user behavior on the website and which entail personal data being collected.
- The privacy statement must specify whether the website is using cookies.
- The privacy statement must indicate what parts of the website is using cookies, how these are managed, and what kind of information is assembled.
- Consequences of turning off the function that allows the use of cookies’ in the browser’s settings must be presented in the statement.
Recommended Privacy statement:
“All personal data and technical information that will be collected from this website will be used only to fulfill your request. This information may be collected by using temporary cookies and the IP address of the computer from which the access to our website is granted. The collection of such information by the cookies helps us identify your computer in the future. These per-session cookies register data temporarily and are deleted as soon as you leave this website and you close the browser. If the function allowing cookies is disabled in your browser we may not be able to provide you with accurate information.
The technical information does not identify the website user. It identifies the date and time you access our website; the type of browser; the operating system; the pages you have visited and the address of the referring website when you reach our website from another one.
The personal information you send to us will not be collected for other purposes than answering your inquiries. If your question involves another Administration body we may share your information with it. This official website does not collect information to create individual profiles listing for commercial purposes whatsoever.”