Source: "Politika"
Interview: Rodoljub Šabić, the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance
According to the new Law on Confidential Information, the possibility exists for the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance to have insight into security and intelligence data, investigation activities, and current actions by the authorities.
The new Law on Confidential Information grants the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance access to information related to the methods of security and intelligence data gathering, investigation activities or actions by the authorities which are underway, as well as data related to protected witnesses and undercover officials. After years of obstructions and debate, this very important clause for the functioning of the institution of the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance led by Rodoljub Šabić was finally accepted. He speaks to ‘Politika’ on what this decision means for the citizens of Serbia.
What will the fact that the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance has access to investigation information, data on persons who are being investigated, wire tapping data and data gathering methodology mean in practice?
The Commissioner for Information is, at the same time, also, the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection. Data on persons who are being investigated for criminal activity is personal data, while wire tapping, surveillance, and other similar forms of information gathering are some of the numerous ways of personal data protection processing. The duty of the Commissioner is to ensure for all the citizens, including the citizens you mentioned, that personal data is being handled within the legal framework, and that the data is processed and used according to the laws, regardless of whether the information is processed by the library, the Health Insurance Fund, or the Security-Information Agency. In order for the Commissioner to be able to perform his duties, he has to have access to all the relevant data, including data you have just mentioned.
Besides that, in certain circumstances, the data you have mentioned is not only of interest to the citizens from the perspective of personal data protection, but certain data could be of an immense public importance. For example, hypothetically speaking, would the information on possible mass wire tapping of citizens not be of immense public interest?
In what manner do you protect the rights of citizens who are being investigated or experience wire tapping and surveillance, while at the same time protecting state’s interest as well?
The Commissioner has an obligation to protect all citizens, including those you mentioned, against illegal processing of their personal data. Thus, the Commissioner has to check whether the measures that include specific forms of data processing are being used in a lawful manner. If he is reassured that this is the case, he will not, of course, further interfere with the work of investigative authorities or security authorities, while the data he received would remain a secret. If he determines that the measures used are illegal, and data processing unlawful, he will order the authorities to stop with data processing and dispose of collected information.
Why is it important for the Commissioner to have access to information on protected witnesses and undercover individuals?
As a matter of principle, that is important because, as I said, the Commissioner has to have access to all the data necessary for him to perform his duties. From the practical point of view, this capacity is much less interesting. For example, the Commissioner, as was the case until now, according to the current laws, had access to all the information without any limitations, but he did not even once ask to access the information you speak of. I do not believe he will ask to access them in the future either. Simply put, the permissions he has at his disposal are not used to satisfy his curiosity, but to perform his duties. Of course, the need to access this data could only be justified in extremely rare cases; for example, if a person with protected identity came asking for protection because of the inadequate processing or safekeeping of data on his actual person, which is not very likely.
Are the insiders protected by this Law in any way?
They are protected in principle, but not in practice. Unfortunately, they are not protected by the recently adopted Law on the Changes and Amendments to the Law on the Free Access to Information of Public Importance, even though the Commissioner submitted a solid amendment in this regard. The protection of insiders continues to be an issue we will have to deal with.
The Law on Confidential Information deals with personal data protection. Will personal data be well protected under this Law? Could you explain the crucial elements of it to us?
The Law deals with personal data protection to a degree which was deemed necessary. However, when it comes to personal data protection, the Law on Personal Data Protection and its implementation, with which we have had numerous problems, are the most relevant. Taken into consideration the importance of this question, especially in the context of European integrations, more attention should be devoted to this issue at the state level.
