National Archives hold seminar on “Protecting personal data and archives: inextricably linked”

On 11 December 2025, a seminar on the links between the system for protecting personal data and issues affecting archives was held in the auditorium at the Lycée Rainier III. The event was aimed at public and quasi-public organisations in Monaco, as well as some private organisations funded wholly or partly by the state. More than 200 people attended.

Following an introduction by Michaël Bloche, Director of the National Archives, and Estelle Sourmaille, Data Protection Officer for the Prince’s Government, Florian Menini, Head of Section at the Personal Data Protection Authority who helped to organise the event, gave an address. Participants then heard a presentation on the topic given by Aude Roelly and Marie Ranquet, curators at the French National Archives and experts in this area.

The main aim of the seminar was to present the exemptions provided for by Act No. 1.565, dated 3 December 2024, on protecting personal data in the Principality, that cover processing for archival purposes or for scientific or historical research purposes. These exemptions allow permanent retention in the public interest of non-anonymised personal data, including sensitive data, provided that the appropriate guarantees are in place.

The representatives from each organisation participating in the seminar were invited to contact the National Archives if they had the slightest doubt regarding the archival and historic interest of their data before deleting or anonymising any paper or digital archives at the end of their retention period or administrative service life. Options may include depositing or submitting documents to the National Archives or the relevant archive department, sampling or, if appropriate, retaining the documents within the organisation concerned. Archives considered to be heritage archives under the relevant regulations must be properly held and inventoried in accordance with Sovereign Ordinance No. 8.569, dated 25 March 2021, on archives of public interest.