Press Releases

After receiving several citizens' submissions, referring to objections related to the support of certain electoral lists, the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection hereby informs the public and warns all participants in the election process that they are obliged to handle the citizens' personal data in accordance with the law.

The citizens' personal data processing, with no basis in law and without their consent, is prohibited and punishable. There were similar occurrences during the previous elections, and the Commissioner warned about them and reacted under his authority.

Since the organizations that monitor the elections and the media mention falsified signatures of citizens on the electoral lists, the Commissioner points out that according to his legal powers, he has no authority or possibility to determine the authenticity of the signatures. Criminal offenses against legal transactions are regulated by the Criminal Code (Art. 355 - 358), and the existence of such a criminal offense is determined in the criminal proceedings, not in the supervision inspection proceedings of the Commissioner.

Any citizen who suspects that his signature has been falsified can file a criminal complaint to the competent Prosecutor's Office, for the Commissioner does not have the authority to file individual criminal complaints on behalf of citizens.

The Law on the Unified Voter Roll stipulates that the Ministry engaged in administrative affairs, through the administrative inspection, supervises the update of the voter list and the conducting of other tasks entrusted to municipal, i.e. city administrations according to this law, so that all interested citizens can refer to this inspection to ensure the legality of actions of all actors in the election process.

November 20, 2023

Dear Children, you are growing up today in a world where technology is an indispensable part of your daily life. The Internet, social networks, and smart devices provide many benefits, such as entertainment or learning, but they also carry risks, especially when it comes to privacy.

Of course, new technologies should be used, but one can never be too careful and responsible. Very often you are not aware of how much personal data is shared through social networks or online games. Always think carefully about what data you are about to share online, or what information you are about to give or grant access to e.g. when creating a profile on a social network or when downloading an application or game. Avoid publishing information such as name and surname, address, phone number, or personally identifiable details that could be used for purposes you don’t want to (just as you wouldn’t tell a stranger you met on the street in the real world).

Before publishing or sharing photos or videos, think about both yourself and the people near and dear to you, family members, friends, etc. Photos and videos can disclose a lot of information about you (eg where you live, which school you attend, or a park or cafe you go to, etc.), so it's important to be careful when sharing them. Think, would you put a photo of yourself that you have already shared on your social media profile, e.g. in the school hall or on a billboard on the street for everyone to see? And, not to forget, the internet is much wider, it is not just limited to school, street, city...

Over time, think about who will be able to see your posts containing personal data, ie. have you ensured that the content you share can only be seen by those you allowed to or is it available to a wider circle of people, and also have you secured the profile itself with a sufficiently strong password that will not be easily broken (e.g. date of birth, name someone close to you, the name of a pet, etc.).

Also, think do you want the jokes you share among your friends, your gettings-ready to go out, the recorded moment when you were fooling around alone or with friends… to be seen one day by your friends' parents, your teachers, etc, or maybe by someone else whose opinion you will care a lot about, and also by doing this whether you were violating someone else's privacy without their given consent.

By sharing information about yourself, you could expose yourself to various problems, because your data can be misused by those who do not have the best intentions, also put yourself in real danger or expose yourself to the comments of malicious people.

Always remember that what is once posted on the internet can stay there forever. Try to understand that some posts can have long-term consequences for your future.

Talk to your parents, older brothers, sisters, or some other trusted older person about online safety. Sometimes they may have helpful tips that could help you.

Also, take a look at the brochure "Personal data is our treasure, how can we protect it?" (Serbian language only) which was published on the Commissioner’s website.

As a society, it’s our responsibility to provide a safe environment for children to grow up and develop. This includes proper protection of their privacy. Raising awareness of the importance of protecting children's privacy should be a continuous process involving children, parents, schools, technology companies, and society as a whole.

Commissioner Milan Marinović and his Expert Office wish you a happy World Children's Day.

On November 8, 2023. in the organization of the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection and SIGMA, a roundtable was held on challenges and potential solutions to the proper functioning of the system of access to public information in Serbia, in which representatives of SIGMA, the Government, Ministries of Health, Education, European Integration, Justice, and Public Administration and Local Self-Government, representatives of the judiciary and representatives of the Bar Associations of Serbia and Vojvodina.

All present agreed that in Serbia at the moment there is a widespread abuse of the right to access information of public importance and that this problem must be solved as soon as possible. All participants in the discussion from the Republic of Serbia agreed that, as one of the measures to solve the said problem, changes should be made to the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance and that all competent authorities must cooperate in solving this problem.