On the occasion of closure of the EU Twinning light project "Improvement of Personal Data Protection" the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection of the Republic of Serbia, the EU Delegation to the Republic of Serbia and the Information Commissioner of the Republic of Slovenia organize on 7 December 2012 a formal event „Personal data protection in Serbia".

The aim of the EU Twinning light project "Improvement of Personal Data Protection", funded by the European Union with 250.000 € and implemented by the Information Commissioner of the Republic of Slovenia, was to contribute to the personal data protection in the Republic of Serbia in line with the EU standards. The project focused on several priority fields, among others on the sector of electronic communications, the sector of internal affairs and the sector of health, which were identified as the topical sectors in the up-to-date state of play in data protection. At the closing event, the representatives of both Commissioners will together with the representatives of the personal data controllers from all the three sectors discuss the data protection issues and challenges of interest both to the individuals as well as to the controllers of personal data in the Republic of Serbia.

In the sector of electronic communications, as one of the most information rich and intensive sectors, information on who we call and when, which websites we visit, where we move and so on are collected, shared and exchanged. Providers of publically available electronic communication services process some of the most sensitive data about the individuals and abuse of these data could represent severe and irrevocable breaches of the privacy of the individual. It is thus very important that the legislation very carefully regulates the safeguards for balancing of conflicting interests and rights involved, especially taking into account the rising interests of law enforcement in this area. The panel on electronic communications will focus on questions of retention of traffic data, access to those data in light of constitutional requirements, processing of personal data in terms of malicious calls, subscribers data, location data and other aspects of processing and protection of personal data in the sector of electronic communications.

The second panel will focus on the data protection in the police sector. The rule that regulates the functioning of a state also from the standpoint of its operative duties – police authorities, is of crucial importance for human rights and basic freedoms of individuals. The police is the external reflection of the monopoly of state compulsion, while the state gives the police the authority to offer assistance to the rule of law and is responsible (and competent) for ensuring safety. The Law on Police, which was carefully analysed in the context of the EU Twinning light project, contains some provisions that should be harmonized with the Directive 95/46/EC, more precisely in the requirement for fair processing of personal data. In as much personal data of individuals are not processed fairly, the fulfilment of their rights they have in connection with the processing of their personal data (e.g. getting acquainted with their own personal data) may be questionable.

Last focal point of the event will be the health sector, where it was identified that the main shortcomings of legislation refer to the lack of regulation of privacy and personal data of patients - who may be present in the treatment of a patient, has the patient always (unconditionally) the right to access his health data, who in addition to the patient is entitled to be informed of his medical data, to whom may the patient's data be transmitted etc. There is a great risk of reducing one's privacy in the process of health treatment, when the patient is already vulnerable because of his health problems. Some like to share their own health and personal problems with others, while some are bothered with that possibility. Because privacy is an extremely subjective term, it must be carefully and precisely regulated and in practice adjusted as much as possible to each individual (his needs, his understanding and his will concerning permissible interference in his private world) which is even more important for the time of his health treatment.

The aim of the event is to affirm the right to personal data protection, point to the obligations of the controllers of personal data and reflect on the challenges brought by the need for the protection of personal data and ensuring the security of personal data. The panellists will reflect on what are key issues to address, implement, adapt, abolish; in short to change in the existing system of personal data protection in Serbia to enable implementation of adequate protection of personal data, respect of human dignity and at the same time harmonise the legal framework of the Republic of Serbia with the legal framework of the European Union.

On the occasion of the event the Manual on data protection for controllers of personal data will also be presented. The manual, prepared in the context of the EU Twinning light project "Improvement of Personal Data Protection", tries to answer data controllers' most frequently asked questions and represents a starting point for helping them to understand and respect the rights granted to individuals under the Law on Personal Data Protection of the Republic of Serbia.

The event will be opened with an address by Mr. Radoljub Šabić, the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection of the Republic of Serbia, Ms. Nataša Pirc Musar, the Information Commissioner of the Republic of Slovenia and Mr. Martin Kern, Head of Operations at the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia.

The event will take place on Friday, 7 December 2012, from 10:00 – 15:00, at the 'Velika sala', Chamber of commerce and industry of Serbia, Terazije 23, 2. Floor, Belgrade.

The Agenda of the event is attached.