The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection participated today in an online regional conference called "Initiative 2017". The conference was held at the initiative of the Commissioner for Information of the Republic of Slovenia and on the topic of personal data protection during the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, challenges and problems faced in the work and the exchange of experiences of all participants. The conference concluded that all countries in the region had the same problems and that basic human rights were threatened at the time of the pandemic.

Commissioner Marinović expressed his gratitude for taking active participation in the work at the gathering "Initiative 2017" and pointed out that the recent election of the Deputy Commissioner in the field of personal data protection, Sanja Unković, is of great importance for the Commissioner's Office. He also stressed that despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, important issues are currently being raised in the field of personal data protection raised in the Republic of Serbia, such as the development of a (new) National Strategy for Personal Data Protection for 2021-2028, amendments to the Law on Personal Data Protection, regulation of specific forms of personal data processing, and introduction of this right in the curricula of primary and secondary schools.

The "Initiative 2017" group consists of supervisory authorities for the protection of personal data from the states of the former SFRY. Also a similar initiative was formed under the name "Initiative 2020" and operates in the field of protection of the right to access information of public importance.