The interference between personal data protection and the requirements of forensic investigation in identity theft cases involving organised criminal groups

URL: https://dspace.academy.police.md/the-interference-between-personal-data-protection-and-the-requirements-of-forensic-investigation-in-identity-theft-cases-involving-organised-criminal-groups/

Data: 2026

In the architecture of contemporary digital society, identity theft committed by organized criminal groups takes on the characteristics of sophisticated criminality, placed at the intersection of legal regimes with apparently divergent purposes: personal data protection and the efficiency of forensic investigation. The present scientific endeavor seeks to explore this area of normative convergence, highlighting the complexity arising from the need to balance fundamental guarantees of private life with the specific demands of criminal investigation and the administration of evidence in criminal proceedings. The analysis is grounded in an integrative approach that coherently combines doctrinal, normative, and jurisprudential benchmarks at both national and European levels, with a view to delineating an applicable legal framework capable of responding to these dynamics. Particular attention is devoted to the mechanisms of storage, processing, and preservation of personal data within criminalistic activities, as well as to the evidentiary vulnerabilities generated both by the inherently digital nature of such data and by the organized structure of criminal conduct. From a critical perspective, the research underscores the risk of excessive oscillation between the imperatives of data protection and the demands of effective criminal enforcement, while emphasizing the need to articulate a balanced normative and operational model capable of ensuring coherence and proportionality in legal intervention. Finally, conceptual benchmarks and directions of reflection are advanced, intended to contribute to the configuration of coherent legal and forensic mechanisms capable of simultaneously meeting the requirements of the rule of law and the emerging challenges of organized cybercrime.