On 20 June 2023, the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Nataša Pirc Musar, handed over the instrument of ratification of the Protocol amending the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data (CETS No. 223) to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, in Strasbourg.

The purpose of the Protocol amending the Convention is to update and improve the Convention (ETS No. 108) in the light of new challenges to the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data. It is the only existing legally binding international treaty in the field of the protection of individuals with regard to automatic processing of personal data, which addresses the privacy challenges in the use of new information and communication technologies and strengthens the Convention's mechanism to ensure its effective implementation.

The Protocol provides a robust and flexible legal framework to facilitate the exchange of data between States Parties to the Convention to ensure effective measures in the use of personal data. Slovenia is currently the 26th country to have deposited its instruments of ratification of the Protocol, thus completing the process of harmonisation of national legislation that had been implemented by the Ministry of Justice under the Personal Data Protection Act (ZVOP-2). The Protocol requires 38 ratifications by Contracting States to enter into force.