National Assembly of Serbia (BETAPHOTO/NEMANJA KICOSEV)
The Partners-Serbia organization said on Jan. 28, International Data Privacy Day, that the trend of misuse of citizens' personal information had continued in Serbia in 2025 and that there had been no adequate institutional response to prevent it.
In a press release, the organization said that 2025 had seen numerous instances of illegal use of surveillance technology, including spyware used against journalists, activists, protest participants and other citizens.
"Despite serious findings by international and domestic organizations -- such as Amnesty International's report Digital Prison and the SHARE Foundation's annual report documenting over 250 incidents of digital rights violations -- relevant state institutions failed to respond, and accountability for violations of citizens' rights remained absent," Partners-Serbia said in the statement.
The statement went on to stress the troubling and long-standing practice of introducing mass video-surveillance systems with advanced functions, including face recognition, in schools, day care centers, gerontological centers and public spaces. The organization noted that progress had been made "at the normative level" with the adoption of certain strategic and legislative documents, like the Artificial Intelligence Development Strategy and a new Law on information security, but pointed out that key legislation that would improve the personal data protection system and raise the responsibility of institutions was delayed.
To get full access to all content of interest see our
Subscription offer
Or
Register for free
And read up to 5 articles each month.
Already have an account? Please Log in.