News

Training on Submitting Annual Reports and Creating Information Booklets

Today, the Office of the Commissioner, in cooperation with the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities and the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, held online training for representatives of local self-government units. The topic of today's training was the implementation of measures to improve the transparency of the work of Public Authorities from the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance, specifically the creation of Information Booklets on their work and submission of Annual Reports. The training was attended by a large number of local self-government employees, who raised many questions regarding the practical application of the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance.

In front of the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, Acting Assistant Minister Žarko Stepanović opened the training, and employees of the Sector for Reporting and Analytical Affairs of the Commissioner conducted the training and gave answers to the questions.

The Commissioner's Participation in Privacy School

On January 26, 2024, the Commissioner hosted on his premises the participants of the Privacy School organized by Partners for Democratic Change. About twenty participants in this course had the opportunity to learn more about the developments of the legal framework for personal data protection in Serbia and the organizational structure of the Commissioner. The Head of the Education Department, Marko Milošević, acquainted the course participants with this development path, the position and competencies of the Commissioner. Presentation of characteristic surveillance cases showed the development of organizational, technical, and personnel measures and also the general raising of data protection awareness. Characteristic cases were presented by Senior Advisor Marin Cetinić, and in the discussion that followed, in addition to the said lecturer, Milan Tomanović, head of the Department in the Sector for Supervision of Personal Data Protection, took part.

Partneri za demokratske promene

Submission of Annual Reports of Public Authorities

The Commissioner once again reminds all public authorities that they are obliged to submit to the Commissioner an Annual Report for 2023 by January 31, 2024, regarding the actions taken to implement the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance.

Also, the Commissioner specifically reminds the temporary authorities, which currently exercise the powers of public authorities and that are about to be constituted due to the held elections, to submit the said reports for those authorities.

In the case that the authority fails to submit an Annual Report to the Commissioner, the Commissioner is authorized to submit a request for the initiation of misdemeanor proceedings against the head of that authority.

The Commissioner invites all authorities to fulfill their legal obligations promptly through the Portal for submitting annual reports of public authorities, at the web address: https://izvestaji.poverenik.rs.

Commissioner with Representatives of SHARE Foundation

On December 18, 2023, Commissioner Milan Marinović met with representatives of the SHARE Foundation, Danilo Krivokapić and Andrej Petrovski, with whom he discussed current topics in the field of personal data protection. On that occasion, representatives of the SHARE Foundation presented the Commissioner and his associates copies of the publication Beyond the Face: Biometrics and Society. This study of the social consequences of mass biometric surveillance contains a detailed description of the technologies by various manufacturers that are being used for surveillance by public and private actors; including a comparative analysis of the regulations governing this area in the USA, the EU, and some countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America; as well as some cases of practical application of biometric surveillance.