Press Releases

The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection informs the public that he has initiated extraordinary inspection supervision on the implementation of the Law on Personal Data Protection; ("Official Gazette of RS", No. 87/2018) by the Data Controller, the City Administration of the City of Belgrade, due to the personal data processing of persons up to 19 years of age, employees and persons engaged in work in primary and secondary schools in the territory of Belgrade, for the purpose of giving out free vouchers.

On this occasion, the Commissioner points out that every preschool, primary and secondary school is legally obliged to have a designated data protection officer so that if a parent or guardian needs to be informed in more detail about the personal data processing of a minor regarding the giving out of free vouchers, they can address that officer.

The commissioner points out that he will promptly inform the public about everything after the extraordinary inspection.

Deputy Commissioner Sanja Unković and Acting Assistant Secretary General of the Commissioner's Service, Marko Antić, are participating in the 44th Global Privacy Assembly (GPA), which will be held from October 25 to 28, 2022 in Istanbul. The main theme of the assembly is "A question of balance: privacy in an era of rapid technological progress". The assembly is attended by a vast number of speakers from around the world, including representatives of the public and private sectors, the academic community, and non-governmental organizations.

Due to the citizens' and media interests in the opinion and attitude of the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection regarding the processing of personal data that is about to be carried out as part of the census starting on October 1 this year, the Commissioner, within the point of view of his scope regarding the application of the Law on the protection of personal data, indicates that the implementation of the census in 2022 is regulated by the Law on the Census of Population, Households, and Dwellings and that this law sets the legal basis for personal data processing of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia for the purpose of producing and publishing official data statistics.

We remind you that, in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Official Statistics, official statistics means the provision of representative data and information on mass economic, demographic and social phenomena, and for the needs of the users of such data and information, which may be business entities and their associations, public authorities, bodies of autonomous provinces, bodies of local self-government units, cultural, educational and scientific institutions, as well as the general public, and that the Statistics Office of the Republic of Serbia is a state authority whose jurisdiction is determined by the Law on Ministries and refers to the performance of tasks related to the organization and implementation of statistical research, collection, processing, statistical analysis and publication of statistical data.

In this context, the personal data processing as part of the 2022 census of population, households, and dwellings is carried out in the public interest and represents a legal obligation of the Statistical Office of the RS, and for the Law on the Census of Population, Households, and Dwellings in 2022, the law itself is harmonized with the Law on personal data protection.

Bearing in mind the above, at the moment there are no current indications that the personal data processing within the upcoming population, household, and dwelling census is to be in conflict with the Law on Personal Data Protection. However, since irregularities related to personal data processing can never be completely ruled out in advance, we instruct all interested parties to contact the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, as the data handler, to obtain information about the census, and we invite all subjects who, after receiving the information, believe that the personal data processing is carried out contrary to the provisions of the Law on the Personal Data Protection, to notify the Commissioner thereof.

Commissioner Milan Marinović and Senior Public Prosecutor in Belgrade Nenad Stefanović held a meeting today. On that occasion, the Commissioner informed prosecutor Stefanović about the serious abuse of the right to access information of public importance that this institution is facing these days. The aforementioned abuse can threaten the efficient operation of the Commissioner's Office and cause serious damage to the state budget, the Commissioner emphasized.

Prosecutor Stefanović pointed out that the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office he is in charge of is aware of the importance of the right to access information of public importance and the requisite increasing transparency in the work of the authorities. In order to increase the transparency of their work, as Stefanović emphasizes, since the establishment of the Public Relations Service, they have published 168 public announcements and 248 answers to media questions, which significantly reduced the number of requests for access to information of public importance.

The Commissioner praised this action of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office.

Marinović and Stefanović agreed to continue cooperation with coordinated action.

On the occasion of the addressing of a large number of journalists and citizens in connection with the increased volume of work in the Commissioner's Office during the last month, in order to inform the public, the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection indicates the following:

Five related persons from Vranje in the period from August 1, 2022. until September 2, 2022. filed 4,614 complaints in the area of ​​access to information. This number of appeals already significantly exceeds the five-year average of 4121.2 appeals, which is the average annual statement of all appellants. Based on the facts established so far, the conclusion is imposed that this is a serious abuse of the right to access information, contrary to the meaning and spirit of the law. Out of 4,614 complaints received, the Commissioner resolved 1,431 complaints and for all resolved complaints it was determined that they were not founded, that is, it was determined that the public authorities to which the requests were submitted actually acted on those requests. The fact that the mentioned persons filed complaints against the response of the public authorities just two days after filing complaints due to the so-called "silence of the administration" clearly indicates that they deliberately misrepresented the fact that the public authorities did not act on requests for access to information. Also, identical requests were filed by five related persons in short periods of time to the same authorities, with the immediate filing of complaints to the Commissioner. Many public authorities contact the Commissioner on a daily basis, pointing out that five related persons from Vranje continuously submit an enormous number of requests for access to information, being aware of and using the well-known fact that it is the annual vacation leave time, so due to the amount of information requested, many employees had to give up using annual leave or to postpone it. In addition, the delivery of letters to the mentioned appellants is very difficult. From all of the above, it is clear that this is not about the usual use of one of the basic human rights - the right to access information, but about dishonorable and dishonest motives of related parties, for which there is no basis in law.

In connection with the situation, all the capacities of the Commissioner have been engaged to the maximum extent, not only to enable all citizens of the Republic of Serbia to freely exercise their rights, the protection which falls under the competence of the Commissioner (the right to access information of public importance and the right to personal data protection) but also to prevent negative financial consequences for the budget of the Republic of Serbia.

In addition, the Commissioner undertakes all measures to solve the problem in a systemic way, which, among other things, includes notifying relevant authorities, as well as initiating certain legal changes.

Regardless of the above, the Commissioner appeals to all public authorities to consistently apply the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance and to act on requests in accordance with the Law, because this is the only appropriate way to respond to this challenging situation and to preserve its meaning and the spirit of the right to access information of public importance, which represents one of the most important values ​​in any democratic, transparent and open society. The Commissioner also reminds that administrative silence on requests for access to information is unacceptable and punishable as a misdemeanor and that the Commissioner will consistently apply his powers to issue misdemeanor orders and submit requests to initiate misdemeanor proceedings in case of violation of the provisions of the Law.