The right to access public services in digitalized Albania: proactivity, inclusion, and data protection
The right to access public services in digitalized Albania: proactivity, inclusion, and data protection

Summary/Abstract: Digital transformation of governance is changing the way citizens apply their rights and access to public services. As a result, designing those procedures and platforms becomes an essential aspect of the rule of law. Meaning that, providing public services through digital means does not automatically guarantee the right to those services by having an online channel available. Services must be understandable, accessible and provided without creating unnecessary barriers that lead to effective exclusion. Analyzing Albania’s digital services revealed that if they remain mostly passive and complex in nature, they pose actual barriers to effectively applying the right to public services. Complex procedures involving several steps and a lack of guidance place an administrative burden on citizens, putting a disproportionate strain on vulnerable population groups, people with limited digital skills, and individuals with restricted internet access. This often leads to citizens losing time, failing deadlines or even withdrawing their requests altogether, essentially filtering who can access public services. These effects are directly connected to the legal framework. Principles of administrative procedure require accessibility, transparency, and effective remedies, while data protection requires lawfulness, transparency, and the integration of privacy into service design. In practice, reliance on informal intermediaries to complete procedures weakens citizens’ control over personal data and increases the risk of exposure. The paper proposes an implementable reform framework and a transition to proactive services organized around life events, simplified procedural steps, binding accessibility standards, and the integration of privacy-by-design principles so that digitalization strengthens rather than restricts the effective exercise of rights.

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