Source: "Danas"
Regional meeting on personal data protection has been held in the Serbian Chamber of Commerce
Belgrade - Citizens are still not sufficiently informed with the fact that personal data can be published only with their consent, but so are the state bodies, regarding the fact that they can not publish those data at any time, has been stressed during yesterday's regional meeting „Personal Data Protection" in the Serbian Chamber of Commerce.
As Rodoljub Sabic, Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection stated speaking about personal data protection, Serbia seriously lags behind the European standards, but also behind its surroundings.
- We have to enable realistic mechanism for personal data protection - said Sabic. He added that he has „plausibly the smallest number of collaborators" compared to colleagues in the region, and that he has several times met with „serious examples of violation of the entitlement to privacy protection, perpetrated by state authorities".
Sasa Jankovic, Republic Citizens' Protector, said that all data pertaining to the citizen's personality are a part of one's privacy and that a citizen is entitled to protect each of them, as well as that they can be used only when the citizens gives consent to that. He stressed that the most important thing is if the state bodies are in their work using personal data in a rightful and legal manner. Citizens' protector reminded that the Personal Data Protection Act envisages sanctions for state authorities who are collecting and processing data against the Law.
Minister of Justice, Snezana Malovic said that the Personal Data Protection Act represents fulfillment of constitutionally guaranteed right to protect personal data, but also of certain international standards.
- The fact that the Law has started to be implemented is the first step towards the efficient implementation of the personal data protection right. In order to fully exercise that right one should secure conditions for Commissioner's work, and the Ministry of Justice shall try to do that - stressed Malovic.
