Source: "Politika"

Some fifteen days ago one of our co-citizens A.H. has submitted a complaint to the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection, due to infringing of the provisions of the Personal Data Protection Law. In that complaint he quoted that he has received a decision of City Administration for New Belgrade Municipality, by which he has been enrolled into a special voters registration list for one of the national minorities, although he has never submitted a request to be enrolled there. He quoted that he considers his data have been abused, and he asked the Commissioner to undertake measures in order to protect his rights.

Source: "Blic"

A couple of days ago, the Minister of Internal Affairs, has by adopting a suggestion of the Commissioner for Information, passed a decision that the Ministry of Internal Affairs should stop implementation of the „Rule Book on Official and State Secret and About the Method of Issuing and Relieving from Keeping Official and State Secret” and to replace this enactment with a new one without delay. Although this is about individual Rule Book which is in application only in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, this thing has also broader and more general importance.

THE INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK Rodoljub Sabic, the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance

The phone tapping of citizens without a judicial warrant, the most disputed provision of the Law on Electronic Communications, is nothing else but a method of the regime of Slobodan Milosevic. In his interview for “Alo!”, Rodoljub Sabic, the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection, warns that Serbia is facing a dilemma whether to legalize the methods of Milosevic’s regime or to adhere to the provisions of its own Constitution.

Serbia will not start resembling “Big Brother”, since it does not resemble it now. The provisions in the Law are not a novelty; they exist from before; they stem from the time of Milosevic. The only dilemma is whether or not we will legalize or change, improve, or adapt to the constitutional solution in Article 41, which clearly states that “the confidentiality of data is inviolable and that exceptions are allowed only upon a decision of a court of law.” In any case, I am for respecting the Constitution.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has recently, by adopting the Resolution on Protection of „Whistle Blowers“ (insiders, or as they are more frequently called „vigilantes“), invited all members to retest their criminal, labor-legal and media regulations and to secure protection to the people who due to public interest and opposing criminal and corruption come into clash with (in)formal rules on „secrets“ and therefore suffer unpleasant consequences.

We have, even without invitation, lots of reasons to take care of such people.  In relation to that, I shall quote “five light cases”, as I ironically call the group of cases in which the orders of the Commissioner have faced violent resistance and have been implemented with huge problems. The list could be longer, but there is no need for that for illustration purpose.

Source: "Blic"

In order to protect those who for common good, open up to talk about criminal and corruption, interventions in the field of criminal, labor and media laws are necessary, informs Rodoljub Sabic.

Those people who get up courage to talk about criminal and corruption in a company or state institution in which they work, in order to protect public interest, almost always pay high price of such an action. Most often they are accused that they have „divulged a business secret”, which serves to managers as an alibi for firing them. Due to such „practice” Rodoljub Sabic, Commissioner for Information of Public Interest, has requested that the legal system of Serbia shall render protection and certain status to  „vigilantes”, that is, insiders, or as they call them – „whistle blowers”.

Law with disputable provisions in the Assembly

BIA, according to insights of “Blic” (Flashlight) wrote a part of the Law on Electronic Communications, enabling it to monitor communications without mandatory court decision

T.N. Djakovic

Security-Informative Agency can monitor with whom, how long and where from you communicate by phone or by e-mail. And it doesn’t need a writ for that. Its manager’s signature is enough.  A new law on electronic communications, which is from yesterday in adoption in the Parliament does not limit that right by any of its provisions. If the law shall be adopted, the control of monitoring these data shall be in the hands of those who monitor them - BIA.

Source: "Blic"

Pursuant to the Law on Personal Data Protection, the Central Registry of Databases can be found at the official Internet presentation of the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection – www.poverenik.rs as of 15^th May this year. Keeping the Registry and its operation entail a sequence of obligations for all personal databases handlers (companies, entrepreneurs, public authorities…) The deadline for fulfilling these obligations (a year from the day the Law came into force), sanctions for non-compliance, i.e. for exceeding timeframes are  defined under the Law.

Source: “Blic”

It is good that the media pay more attention to personal data protection.  But not so well is that the media sometimes choosing “juicy “topics, divert attention from much more important subjects. That is the case with critical assessment of the Commissioner for Information and Personal Data Protection on Unique Master Citizen Number (UMCN), given at journalists’ request. I do really consider that the flaw of UMCN is that being seen, gives more personal data that it is necessary and being unchangeable increases the risk of abuse. However, that doesn’t mean we should change it immediately. Even more that UMCN is our main problem in this field. I wish it was.

Source: „Dnevnik“

Insiders in Serbia without protection

The truth goes first in a transition period. A society wrapped in corruption simply cries out for individuals having the honesty and courage to “snitch”. Only not  to snitch from evil and malice, but to expose destroyers of Serbia – corruption. But, few and welcome insiders in the Serbian society are left hanging out in the wind and to themselves after they have disposed corrupted boss, officials who have received bribes or provided someone to win a tender, or upon revealing that their factories where they work release hazardous chemicals into rivers, or about illegal taping….

Source: "Danas"

Many media have recently reported the news that the National Assembly will appoint a working group with the task to prepare the law which should lay down prerequisites for solving numerous open issues regarding the problem of ''missing babies''.   In her announcement of the future appointment of the working group, the President of the National Assembly, has stated that the cause for this action was the Commissioner for Information's pointing out the justified dissatisfaction of a significant number of parents.  This justified remark of the President of the National Assembly has been taken as gratification for my efforts to help a group of people affected by this calamity, and it has also reminded me of something which is most probably the worst thing in my job – frequent ‘’encounters’’ with examples of unfathomable human ruthlessness. In addition to the news from the National Assembly, as chance would have it, I have also been reminded of that by the ongoing case on that issue from my practice which has happened at the same time.