Press Releases - Archive

In his letter sent to the Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications, the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection requested from this Ministry as an authority responsible for enforcement of the Law on Electronic Communications (LEC) to inspect all electronic communication providers because of the facts which show that vast majority of operators do not comply with the provisions of LEC on keeping of records of "interception" of communications and access to retained data (Article 130а of LEC).

According to the reports submitted to the Commissioner, about 80% of the total number of operators do not comply with the said duties, while non-compliance with these duties is punishable under LEC by imposition of a fine in the amount of between one and two million dinars for legal entities and between 100,000 and 150,000 dinars for responsible persons and the Law also sets out a possibility to impose an injunction barring the entity from pursuing its business activities.

Noting that he addressed the competent ministry last year in connection with the same issue and with the same request, which gave results, although they were obviously only temporary, Commissioner Rodoljub Sabic said the following:

In his letter sent to the Serbian Government the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection emphasized the need for a qualitative change in treatment of the situation in an important field of human rights such as personal data protection by competent authorities, particularly the Government.

The direct reason for the Commissioner's addressing the Government is the fact that five and a half years have passed since the Government adopted the Personal Data Protection Strategy and the attitude towards the implementation of this Strategy might be "the best" illustration of the worryingly poor treatment of personal data protection.

In connection with the Bill amending the Law on Municipal Police, the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection sent a letter to the Committee on the Judiciary, Public Administration and Local Self-Government of the Serbian Assembly in which he warned that certain provisions of the Bill are disputable from the aspect of constitutional provisions regulating the protection and processing of personal data.

In connection with lists of recipients of free meals in soup kitchens which were published yesterday, the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection initiated enforcement of the Personal Data Protection at the City Centre for Social Work in Belgrade.

The Commissioner said it was commendable that these lists had already been removed; however, it is inadmissible and beyond belief that they had been visibly displayed at the Unit of the City Centre for Social Work in Rakovica.