Personal Data Security Deteriorating Hour by Hour, Serbian Commissioner Launches New Campaign

Milan Marinovic (BETAPHOTO/MILAN OBRADOVIC)

The vulnerability of citizens’ personal data rises by the hour, and no single institution can protect them alone from threats coming from all sides, Serbia’s Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection Milan Marinovic said on March 9.

Speaking at the launch of the awareness campaign to promote the right to and importance of personal data protection, So That Personal is Safe, Marinovic said greater public awareness, media support in popularizing the topic, cooperation among institutions within Serbia, and cooperation with institutions in other countries responsible for protecting these rights were all necessary to achieve that goal. He said training programs and study visits were among the most important forms of such cooperation.

Marinovic said “the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has always provided some form of support to the Office of the Commissioner.” Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia Marcel Pesko said cooperation between the two institutions was not based on courtesy, but rather the fact that personal data protection was a cornerstone of every democratic system.

Marinovic said one of the campaign goals was for citizens to recognize the Commissioner’s office as the most relevant institution for protecting that human right. Currently, when asked which institution they would turn to if that right were violated, citizens place the Commissioner second, behind the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He also said that a new law on personal data protection was being drafted and was expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2026.