Representatives of government authorities are increasingly addressing the Commissioner for Information of Public importance and Personal Data Protection about their dilemmas in connection with allowing public access, including on their official Internet presentations, to personal data of individual candidates for heads of institutions, public enterprises and other public authorities in public job announcements.

The issue of publishing personal data, in this specific case the data on candidates for heads of authorities in public job announcement, is relevant for the Commissioner's powers, both in the field of the right to know, as the right of access to information, and in the field of personal data protection. The Commissioner emphasizes it is necessary for public authorities to take into account all relevant circumstances of a case when making a decision in order to identify necessary safeguards and limitations of rights, so that they could at the same time provide transparency of a public job announcement and protection of personal data.

In this regard, Commissioner Rodoljub Sabic invites public authorities to consult his general opinion expressed in a reply recently sent to a public authority. The Commissioner's opinions may help in acting on individual requests to exercise freedom of information and striking the right balance in allowing public access to personal data of candidates in public job announcements for heads of authorities.