A ‘Data Protection Day’ was held on 30 January 2012 by the Serbian Data Protection Authority and was opened by the Serbian Commissioner for information of public importance and for protection of the personal data Mr. Rodoljub Sabic, the Ombudsman of the Republic of Serbia Mr. Sasa Jankovic and Ms Antje Rothemund, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade. Mr. Sabic said that the main challenge regarding data protection for Serbia is to harmonize the Serbian legislation with that of the European standards and to implement them in a proper way with the aim of minimising the risk of abuse of personal data. While the European Council is preparing the modernisation of the respective Convention, Serbia has to rectify any issues with the implementation of the existing Convention, with the intention of reaching higher standards.
The aim of Data Protection Day, which is marked every year on 28 January throughout Europe, is to give citizens an opportunity to understand what kind of personal data is collected and processed, why this is done, and what rights they have with respect of such processing. It is also an opportunity for them to become more aware of the inherent risks associated with the unlawful use or clandestine processing of their personal data. The Data Protection Day has jointly been marked this year by the European Commission and Council of Europe.
In order to offer everyone protection in this field, the Council of Europe drew up a Convention for the protection of individuals with regard to the automatic processing of personal data to protect personal data. This remains the only binding international legal instrument in this field. Any country may accede to the Convention, whether or not it is a member of the Council of Europe. This year will be the 31st year since the Convention (known as “Convention 108”) was opened for signature. Serbia as its signatory has participated in marking the Data Protection Day.
03/02/2012
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