Press Releases

On the occasion of the text published in the daily newspaper "Danas" no. 8909-8910 on February 19-20, 2022, on page number 11, entitled "Police illegally use identification cameras" the Commissioner informs the public that parts of the statement, published on the website of the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection on February 18, 2022, regarding the supervision carried out by the Commissioner's authorized persons in the Ministry of Interior, and on suspicion of using facial recognition technology by the members of the Ministry of Interior during the protests held on November 27 and December 4 last year, were conveyed mostly correctly but that the title above the text is extremely incorrect, untrue and does not correspond to the true state of affairs determined by the published supervision.

In this regard, the Commissioner emphasizes that the real truth is that the authorized persons of the Commissioner who performed the supervision did not determine that the face recognition technology was used by the police during the above-mentioned events.

On suspicion of the use of Facial Recognition Technology by the Ministry of Interior during the protests held on November 27 and December 4 last year, and in connection with misdemeanor warrants issued to protesters, The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection conducted a supervision procedure against the Ministry of the Interior.

The supervision procedure was conducted by the Commissioner on January 13, 2022. at the headquarters of the Ministry of Interior, as well as in the Belgrade Police Administration, during which the authorized persons of the Commissioner took statements from the representatives of the Ministry of Interior and made a report, with insight into the necessary documentation.

The Commissioner reminds citizens, media representatives, citizen associations, and public authorities that on Thursday, February 17, 2022, the implementation of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance will begin, which brought significant innovations and changes in the implementation field of one of these basic human rights.

"In the practice so far, great unfamiliarity with the right to personal data protection has been noticed, both among citizens and among those who process personal data - data controllers. For more efficient protection of this right, it is necessary to strengthen the capacity of the Commissioner, "said Commissioner Marinović at today's celebration of Personal Data Protection Day.

He pointed out the development and expansion of the capacity of the Service in the past period, as well as the perspective of further development of the Service in accordance with the expanded powers in both areas of human rights that it protects.

"Our aspiration for this year is to enter the education system. The commissioner has already started cooperation with higher education institutions through short study programs at various faculties, "said Commissioner Marinović.

The Commissioner referred to his first 300 days at the helm of the institution and to the development of the Commissioner and his office during that period. He especially pointed out the temptations brought before the Commissioner’s Office by the situation with the Kovid-19 pandemic, which has caused working in unusual circumstances that were new to everyone.

The commissioner warned of the dangers to the protection of personal data brought by the accelerated technological progress followed by digitalization and the development of artificial intelligence.

Today's celebration of Personal Data Protection Day was attended by the Head of OSCE Mission to Serbia, HE Jan Bratu, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Mateja Norčič Štamcar, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade Nadia Ćuk and USAID Mission Director to Serbia, Susan Fritz.

During the celebration of the Day of Personal Data Protection, Deputy Commissioner Sanja Unković presented the latest publication entitled "Personal Data Protection: Attitudes and Opinions of the Commissioner". She referred to the current situation in the field of personal data protection with special emphasis on the work on the adoption of the Personal Data Protection Strategy, taking initiatives and measures to raise awareness of children and youth of school age on personal data protection, and especially the Commissioner for the introduction of personal data protection in the curricula of primary and secondary schools. She especially emphasized the importance of creating a legal possibility for the Commissioner to get closer to the citizens of Serbia who live outside Belgrade by opening the Commissioner's offices in Kragujevac, Novi Sad, and Nis.

A recording of the event can be viewed on the official YouTube channel of the Commissioner. 

The Commissioner reminds the responsible persons in public authorities of the obligation to submit the annual report prescribed by Article 43 of the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance ("Official Gazette of RS" No. 120/2004 54/2007, 104/2009 and 36/2010), as well as that the deadline expires on January 20, 2022.

From 2018, annual reports are submitted to the Commissioner exclusively electronically.

In that sense, in the period from January 1 to 20, 2022, the annual report for 2021 should be submitted to the Commissioner exclusively through the Portal for submission of annual reports of public authorities https://izvestaji.poverenik.rs/.

More detailed information on submitting annual reports is available at https://izvestaji.poverenik.rs/Uputstvo.

The Commissioner reminds that the failure to submit the annual report to the Commissioner is a violation prescribed by Article 48 of the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance.