Source: "Blic"

“Please provide us with the records of outgoing and incoming communications for the following phone number… for the period from… to… 2010.” This “laconic” request was sent to the address of one of our large mobile phone operators. When the operator refused to fulfill the request, stating that the request was not in accordance with the law, and that, in order to fulfill it, a decision of a court of law was necessary, the person who submitted the request, the Deputy Prosecutor from a city in inland Serbia, repeated it and called the operator to responsibility. The operator sought the protection of the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection.

Source: "Blic"

In all likelihood, the EU Report on Serbia’s progress on the path of European integration will once again bring up the question - what is the situation regarding restitution? Some five and a half years ago, the Law on Reporting and Recording of Seized Property was enacted in what seemed like a first serious indication of the government’s willingness to tackle an issue that most other transition countries had resolved long ago, namely restitution of or compensation for property seized without consideration through the operation of laws on nationalization, agrarian reform, confiscation, sequestration... Indeed, the government appeared willing to resolve this issue promptly, as the Law called for submission of claims as soon as possible, reinforcing this new-found resolve with a(n) (empty) “threat” – those who fail to present their claims by the end of June 2006 would forgo any right to restitution!!

Source: “Danas”

INTERVIEW – Rodoljub Sabic, the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection, on the implementation of the Law on the Free Access to Information

Belgrade – The fact that the citizens, journalists, NGOs, and others, year after year, have been submitting more and more requests for access to information to institutions at all levels of governance, and the fact that the number of requests is considerably larger than in the beginning, currently at more than several tens of thousands, are, indeed, a confirmation of the greater democratic awareness and readiness to control the Government. The same can be said of the ever-growing number of complaints submitted to the Commissioner, which, again, confirms the determination to persevere in the fight for the fulfillment of rights until the very end. This development of awareness of citizens and the increase in the application of their rights is probably the most valuable result when it comes to the implementation of the Law on the Free Access to Information of Public Importance, Rodoljub Sabic, the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection, stated for ‘Danas’.

Source: Vecernje Novosti

WHO IS ABLE ASK FOR PERSONAL DATA AND IS OUR PRIVACY THREATENED

15 penalties filed. Sabic: Collecting data is legal exclusively on two grounds

Have you ever wondered who owns your personal data? Banks, hospitals, all the companies you worked for, schools and kindergardens your children attend, Public transportation company, Institute of public health, library, travel agencies you travelled with, Ministry of Internal Affairs, recruiting department, Federal voting committee…

Who has for one reason or another made a photocopy of your identification card? And have those copies been destroyed or are these data still being stored somewhere and for what reason? 

Source: “Dnevnik”

The case of publishing audio recording from the meting of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians in Novo Orahovo in which conversers speak about a parallel list of Hungarians in Vojvodina and how it can be used in the elections, has shaken public in the province, however no officials have yet  come out on the issue. Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians filed a complaint against an N.N. person for secret recording, which is prohibited by the law, but denies its authenticity. The Trustee for public information Rodoljub Sabic sais for “Dnevnik” that the case is interesting from several different points of view, but from the standpoint of his position, it’s important for him that the recording content refers to existence of a personaldata base which should not be existing.