Draft bill # 11031 of February 20, 2024 

Cosponsors: a group of 7 MPs from the Servant of the People faction with Viacheslav Medianyk as the first signatory 

Status: sent for review to the Law Enforcement Committee of the Verkhovna Rada 

Who is affected: residents of Ukraine, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, government bodies, local self-government bodies, private, communal, and state enterprises, institutions, and organizations 

Summary: 

  • the bill proposes the introduction of a public safety video monitoring system 
  • video monitoring cover: 
    • individuals in cases when it serves the interests of national and public security, economic well-being, and human rights 
    • vehicles 
    • public places 
    • facilities of critical, social, economic, public utilities, transport, engineering, and other infrastructure 
  • a unified public safety video monitoring system will be introduced. It will consist of central, regional, and local level monitoring systems, as well as video monitoring systems of private, communal, and state enterprises, institutions, and organizations, and individual monitoring systems 
  • security and defense sector agencies, government bodies, and local self-government bodies will be authorized to establish video surveillance systems 
  • the video monitoring system will consist of devices that automatically record photo, audio, and video data and digital complexes that process, analyze, and transmit the collected data to the Ministry of Internal Affairs system 
  • all owners of video monitoring systems will be obliged to transmit data to the Ministry of Internal Affairs system 
  • the video monitoring system will identify a person using the following parameters: 
    • name, date of birth, place of birth, gender 
    • information about the place of residence, citizenship (or its absence) 
    • a digitized image of a person’s face 
    • taxpayer’s account card number or the series and number of a passport 
  • to identify a person, the video monitoring system will access the unified demographic registry, the national system of biometric verification and identification of citizens, foreigners, and stateless persons, and other state registers 
  • personal data will be stored in the system for up to 15 years 
  • individuals will have the right to access data on them in the video surveillance system 

What is wrong: 

  • the bill proposes to introduce total and essentially totalitarian control over the daily life of residents of Ukraine, which can be exploited for the rollback of democracy and a wide range of other abuses 
  • clear and substantiated criteria warranting the collection and use of personal data are not established 
  • the influence of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on all society will be dangerously expanded, turning the country into a police state 
  • the state will have to allocate significant funding from the government budget for the implementation of the video monitoring systems 

Alternative solution:  the draft bill should be withdrawn.