Повереник за информације од јавног значаја и заштиту података о личности донео је решење којим је привремено забранио Друштву за маркетинг и услуге Аpex Solution Technology обраду података о личности, конкретно серијског и алиас броја персонализованих СМАРТ картица у оквиру система за наплату карата и управљање у јавном превозу у Београду, тзв. Бус Плус систем.

С тим у вези Повереник Родољуб Шабић је изјавио следеће:

Поводом обележавања Европског дана заштите података повереник за информације од јавног значаја и заштиту података о личности Родољуб Шабић изјавио је да је унапређење заштите података о личности један од главних изазова за Републику Србију у 2012. години.

„Усаглашавање нашег правног поретка са европским стандардима заштите података о личности и озбиљан рад на примени ових стандарда у пракси су двострука обавеза државе. Важно је да што пре надокнадимо оно што је пропуштено. На то нас упућују како формалне обавезе, тако, што је још важније, потреба  унапређења заштите приватности грађана односно у што је могуће већој мери смањења ризика од злоупотребе њихових личних података. У време кад је и у СЕ и у ЕУ актуелно успостављање нових, кавалитетнијих и оштријих стандарда заштите података о личности, крајње је време да ми код нас обезбедимо примену бар оних старих.“

Дан заштите података други пут је организован у Србији. 

The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection has appealed today to the Serbian Government to withdraw the Bill on Detective Services from the Assembly procedure.

The Commissioner reminds that during 2010 he pointed out the serious shortcomings of the solutions which were included in the then Draft Law, but the Commissioner’s remarks were not taken into consideration obviously. Now, not even asking for the Commissioner’s opinion, on December 30^th, 2011, the Government proposed a new, basically very similar Bill. The Commissioner estimates that this Bill contains obviously unconstitutional provisions, and that, in many of its provisions, it is controversial, contradictory, and unclear. In the Commissioner’s opinion the adoption of the Bill could create possibilities for the violation of privacy and misuse of personal data.

Concerning this, the Commissioner Rodoljub Sabic has also said:

The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection has sent a letter to the Serbian Government indicating that the conditions of the normative regulation in the field of classifying confidential data is such that it involves serious risks both for exercising the rights of the public, but, also, maybe in greater measure, for the security interest of the country and general legal security.

Two years after it was passed, the Data Confidentiality Act does not function very well, that is - it does not function. The Commissioner’s opinion is that the field of data confidentiality is in a state of troublesome improvisation, where not a single piece of information labelled confidential can be certainly said to be classified in a completely legal way and where, accordingly, it is very problematic whether you can, in a legal way, raise a question of anybody’s criminal liability for disclosing such information. The problem of a huge amount of inherited old secrets has not been solved and, at the same time, new secrets are being produced without reliable criteria. The Commissioner has estimated that all the conditions for undertaking urgent measures exist, including the need to amend the Act or replace it with a completely new one.

Concerning this, the Commissioner Rodoljub Sabic has also said:

The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection estimates that the actions of the Ministry of Finance on some decisions of the Commissioner for Information confuse and misinform the public and call into question the authority of the law and government bodies.

The immediate cause for this Commissioner’s estimation is the fact that the Ministry of Finance did not act on the Commissioner’s order that the Ministry should make the information about 50 biggest tax and contribution debtors in the Republic available to the public and the fact that, using completely unfounded legal arguments, the Ministry has been trying to justify their actions.

In connection to this, the Commissioner Rodoljub Sabic has also said:

Bearing in mind the increased media interest in issuing personalized SMART cards and the use of Bus Plus benefit program in public transport, together with the fact that a considerable number of citizens have addressed the Commissioner concerning this issue, the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection announces that he is already in the process of checking the earlier information on the intent to establish the personal data base called “The Registry of ID Cards Owners for Using the Public Transport in Belgrade”, he has warned those in charge of the project about the obligation set out in the Personal Date Protection Law.

At the beginning of this month the Commissioner issued another warning to the Society for Marketing and Services “Apex Solution Technology” Ltd. from Belgrade. In the direct contact with the managers of this firm the representatives of the Commissioner were assured that the firm would act according to warning.

Immediately after the project begins to function the persons authorized by the Commissioner will perform direct supervision and if the instructions from the warning are not followed the Commissioner will forbid the data processing.

Regarding this the Commissioner Rodoljub Sabic has also said:

The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection estimates as justified the strong reaction of the Consumers Movement concerning the “obligation” of the citizens to give their personal data including their Personal No. to sellers when complaining or returning the goods. The Commissioner estimates that making those requests is not only, as estimated by the Consumers Movement, unethical and unacceptable, but most importantly it is obviously against the law.

The Commissioner considers that this is an unauthorized personal data processing and will ask the Ministry of Finance to amend the bylaw immediately, that is the form which represents the basis for that kind of processing. Concerning this the Commissioner Rodoljub Sabic has also said:

In relation to ever more frequent announcements about the introduction of the large scale surveillance in apartment buildings in Belgrade and other places, the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection warns that these matters have to be handled very seriously taking into consideration all the possible consequences when putting them to practise.

Regarding this issue the Commissioner has appealed to the Government of the Republic of Serbia to activate the process of implementing the modern standards of personal data protection into our legal system, the process that has stood still for two years, and as a minimum to complement the Personal Data Protection Law with suitable provisions on surveillance. The Commissioner has prepared the proposal for complementing the Law which he will deliver to the Government together with the formal initiative.

The Commissioner Rodoljub Sabic has also said:

The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection has assessed as very indicative and from the perspective of the relationship of the authorities towards the rights of the citizens worrying, the extremely big increase in the number of cases upon which he takes action.

Pointing to the fact that only in the past month the Commissioner’s Office registered 530 new cases, the Commissioner has warned that nothing, not even the forthcoming pre-election atmosphere cannot and must not justify the problems in exercising the citizens’ rights guaranteed by the Constitution and law.Concerning this, the Commissioner Rodoljub Sabic has also said:

Due to frequent citizens’ appeals, the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection has appealed today to all the political parties to refrain from any activities during their pre-election campaign which are inconsistent with the standards set by the Personal Data Protection Law, and he has warned all the authorities not to approve such activities in any way.

The Commissioner has warned that the use of personal data collections, especially those owned by the authorities, like for example voters lists, for the purposes for which they are not compiled, represents an unauthorized data processing, an offence penalized by law and under certain circumstances even a criminal act. The Commissioner has called on all the people involved to refrain from such activities and not only because of the threatened penalties, but to give at least minimal contribution to improving the bad condition in the field of personal data protection.

In relation to this the Commissioner Rodoljub Sabic has also said: