Press Releases - Archive

Prompted by the fact that the Government has been delaying the adoption of the Decree on Special Safeguards for Particularly Sensitive Data for six years now, the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection said it was a bizarre, almost grotesque illustration of the state's inadequate relation towards the situation in the field of personal data protection.

According to the Commissioner, the current situation, particularly lack of the activities necessary to change such situation, would certainly be a problem in negotiations with the EU on chapters about human rights and, what is much more important, would be an increasing source of excesses and violations of Serbian citizens' rights guaranteed under the Constitution and the law.

In that regard, Commissioner Rodoljub Sabic also said the following:

In his letters sent to the heads of the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS), the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) and the Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina (NDNV), Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection Rodoljub Sabic congratulated 3 May, the World Press Freedom Day, to all journalists in Serbia.

Expressing his best wishes for continued success in the work of journalists and the media and reaffirming his readiness and duty to help them carry out their important social function, Commissioner Rodoljub Sabic also said the following:

The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection said that it is necessary and in a letter sent to the minister of internal affairs he appealed to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to publish complete relevant details of the suicide case that happened 22 years ago in an apartment of the current Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic.

In this context the Commissioner also stated the following:

The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection has been addressed by a number of journalists and citizens regarding the announced action involving citizen survey and traffic count which is planned to be implemented by the Belgrade Secretariat for Transport. The reason for addressing is the dilemmas about possible invasion of privacy or unlawful processing of personal data in the course of the survey.

In this regard, the Commissioner stresses that this is a survey in which citizens will anonymously (as it is stated in the statement published on the website of the Secretariat) answer questions about their participation in traffic, and if implemented in such a way, it that does not involve and it is not personal data processing.

The Commissioner said that, given the scope of the action lasting several days, which among other entails the implementation of the survey in 10 000 households, it would be helpful and good for the Secretariat if it ensured greater publicity of the action and through the media eliminated any possible doubts about the purpose, content and method of implementation of the action.

Accordingly, the Commissioner points out that it is up to the citizens whether they will actively respond to the invitation to participate in the present survey and give as precise and accurate answers as possible or not. In any case, the processing of any personal data would be, both from the standpoint of a valid legal basis, and from the standpoint of the proclaimed purpose, unlawful.