Armenian News Network / Groong

 

Conversation on Groong: Judicial reforms, data protection and privacy in Armenia

 

 

ANN/Groong

September 5, 2020

Table of Contents

 

Introduction

Subscribe and Listen to us on...

Guests This Week

Your Hosts

This Week’s Conversation on Groong: Judicial reforms, data protection and privacy in Armenia

Overview

Guest

Analysis and Discussion

Sources

Wrap-up

 

Introduction

 

Hello and welcome to Armenian News Network, Groong. I’m Hovik Manucharyan.

 

A quick reminder to subscribe to our channel and like this podcast to help us reach a wider audience. It would also help us immensely if you could share this podcast on your social media to give us an extra boost. Thanks in advance!

 

In this Conversation on Groong episode, we’ll be talking with a legal expert specializing in telecommunications, information security, and privacy in Armenia. If you’re interested in judicial reform, privacy, and data protection in Armenia, this will be an episode you won’t want to miss.

So clear your schedule for 40 minutes, sit back and enjoy the discussion.

 

Subscribe and Listen to us on...

YouTube           Apple           Google         Spotify       Facebook

 

Guests This Week

     David Sandukhchyan

Your Hosts

     Hovik Manucharyan

     Asbed Bedrossian

 

This Week’s Conversation on Groong: Judicial reforms, data protection and privacy in Armenia

Overview

 

Armenia has European grade laws in the areas of finance, business, data protection and privacy. What is preventing Armenia from achieving its full potential in foreign direct investment (FDI)?  Why do many Armenian startups incorporate in foreign countries, and use Armenia as their offshore labor resource?

Guest

 

Our guest today is David Sandukhchyan, who is an Armenian lawyer with 20 years of experience in telecommunications, cyber law, media and personal data protection. He started his legal career as an Internet freedom advocate and made substantial contributions to the development of media, telecommunication and technology legislation in Armenia.

 

David was Chief Counsel for over 8 years at Beeline, one of the leading Armenian telecom operators. From 2005 to 2007 he was a member of the Council of Europe expert group on human rights in information society and committee of experts on electronic democracy. 

 

Today David lives in Toronto, Canada and as a private consultant he is involved in many Internet freedom, data protection and telecommunications development projects.  He holds a BA degree in law and a Master’s in physics. He is a certified ISO information security auditor with a Certificate in Advanced Cyber Security from York University in Toronto.

Analysis and Discussion

What were some of the major headaches of the chief counsel for one of the largest telecom operators in Armenia?

How did the government’s relationship with large companies evolve over your nearly a decade at Armentel?

Are there citizen initiatives like the EFF to champion privacy protections in Armenia?

Armenia prides itself as the “Silicon Valley of the former USSR” and we have seen some successes where a number of Armenian startups eventually got a significant amount of VC investment in Armenia. Some of the major success stories pride themselves in having a value that’s measured in the hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars. For instance, the best-known startup PicsArt has received $65 million VC investment so far according to Crunchbase. Another popular startup Krisp is in the Series A funding stage with $8.5 million so far, and there are more examples.

But there is a common pattern we’re seeing. In both cases, we’ve seen these startups re-incorporate in the US (specifically Silicon Valley) prior to getting investments. What this means in reality is that these companies become US companies and the value of the company largely transfers from Armenia to the US, leaving the Armenian branch as an outsourcing center for the US company.

Armenia is compliant with EU regulations, so the laws are pretty good. But the way Armenina works is not great because it works on the basis that people should trust the government. But the basis for this trust is not in place. What are the causes for this?

      Lack of trust by foreign investors because their capital is not protected;

      Judiciary: personalities & processes;

      Kompromat as part of “the system”;

      Armenian government's stance on the issue of privacy, media freedoms.

Sources

      Armenian Parliament Passes Bill on Coronavirus Restrictions - Azatutyun.am

      ՀԱՅԱՍՏԱՆԻ ՀԱՆՐԱՊԵՏՈՒԹՅԱՆ ՕՐԵՆՔԸ - ՏԵՍԱԼՍՈՂԱԿԱՆ ՄԵԴԻԱՅԻ ՄԱՍԻՆ

      Media Advocate: Under new law TV and Radio Commission becomes a censor and a judge - Panorama.am

      Armenia Adopts Law Limiting Broadcast of Foreign Media - SputnikNews.com

      Lawyer: The search in the office of Judge David Grigoryan was carried out without his consent, and without the consent of the SJC, which is a gross violation of law - ArmInfo

      Armenian President signs into law location data bill for contact tracing of coronavirus cases - Armenpress

      Another package violating rights was silently rubber-stamped in the parliament… - Yerkir Media

 

Wrap-up

 

That concludes this week’s Conversation on Groong. We hope you enjoyed it.

 

As always, we want your feedback, including your suggestions for Conversation topics in the future. Contact us on our website, at groong.org, or on our Facebook PageANN - Groong”, or in our Facebook Group “Groong - Armenian News Network. As a reminder, we are available on most major media platforms, including Youtube, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

Special thanks to Laura Osborn for providing the music for our podcast. I’m Hovik Manucharyan, and on behalf of everyone in this episode, I wish you a good week. Thank you for listening.