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In his opening speech at the Data Protection Day 2025 marking, which took place today at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Commissioner Milan Marinović managed to depict the shortcomings of using artificial intelligence by stating facts without emotions. “Personal data protection is the most vulnerable human right. If we can reconcile the development of technology and this right - we are on the right track,” said Commissioner Marinović.

Representatives of foreign delegations in Serbia, including H.E. Emmanuelle Gioffre, Head of the EU Delegation; Ms. Carolina Hidea, Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission; and Mr. János Babić, Head of the Council of Europe Mission, agreed that digitalization and artificial intelligence represent the main challenges in protecting the right to privacy.

Ministry of Justice State Secretary Miroslav Panić emphasized the importance of joint efforts and synergy in regulating this area, which is reflected in the work of various working groups for the implementation of the Strategy, the Action Plan, and the work of the Working group for amendments to the Law on Personal Data Protection, aiming to regulate biometrics, video surveillance, and artificial intelligence by law.

Deputy Commissioner Sanja Unković emphasized that the previous year was an absurd situation, never before had more training and forums on the topic of data protection been held, with higher awareness of citizens, but that it has never been more difficult for us to protect this right due to the development of modern technology.

“Our job in the future will be even more difficult because we must not stop the development of technology, digitalization, and artificial intelligence, and we must protect personal data on the other hand. I wonder if there will be any information about us that we could hide, such as our habits and everything that marks our privacy,” said Deputy Unković. Furthermore, the institution of the Commissioner will continue to educate citizens and students with a special emphasis on the youngest population, actively participating in the work of international bodies in this area.

Deputy Commissioner presented the latest, jubilee, publication in this area, which you can download on the Commissioner’s website (Serbian language only).

Finally, Commissioner Marinović conferred recognition for special contributions to personal data protection in the Republic of Serbia: to the Ministry of Justice, the OSCE Mission to Serbia, the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ) and The Serbian Chamber of Healthcare Institutions.

You can also see the gallery of photos from the event here.

You can watch the recording of the event (in Serbian language only) on the Commissioner's YouTube channel:

Subotica, January 20, 2025

In the Subotica City Hall, on Monday, January 20, starting at 11:00 a.m., the representatives of the Commissioner’s Office held a training course on the implementation of the Personal Data Protection Law for Data Protection Officers from more than 30 public institutions in the vicinity of the city of Subotica.

The representatives of the Office of the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection conducted this training within the scope of the multi-donor project “Support for Strengthening Rule of Law in the Republic of Serbia”(EU for the Fight Against Corruption and for Fundamental Rights) financed by the EU and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), whereas the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) is in charge for its implementation.

The importance of personal data protection, consent for their processing, the purpose of lawful and fairly processing and transfer, along with determining the public and legitimate interest in data processing, are just some of the topics in the main focus of public interest. The training aims to familiarize Data Protection Officers or persons designated by Data Controllers and Data Processors (if they do not have designated Data Protection Officers) with the current legal solutions (in the EU and the Republic of Serbia) and train them for proper application of the Personal Data Protection Law.

Field trainings, which are being implemented as part of project support in 15 selected local self-government units, are particularly important for raising the capacity of personal data protection. Also, at the same time, in addition to trainings in those selected units of local self-government, panel discussions on personal data protection are being organized, primarily aiming to raise awareness among the general public and inform its citizens.