Privacy, personal data protection and the digital age – a (criminal) law “omnibus”
Abstract
The Constitution of the Republic of Serbia safeguards the right to privacy through several aspects, as does the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The cornerstone in this area is the Law on Personal Data Protection from 2018. In line with the ultima ratio principle of criminal law, the Criminal Code protects these data when the most severe violations occur, pursuant to the Criminal Procedure Code. However, with the daily expansion of science, technology, and innovative means of communication and recording, this takes on a different, “digital” dimension. Naturally, this trend calls for certain adjustments in regulations, as well as in their interpretation and application. In this paper, the authors aim to highlight key provisions of the aforementioned regulations and their current and future interpretation within the context of digital society, with a particular focus on criminal law aspects. This complexity is further amplified by the development of artificial intelligence, which inherently relies on the use of vast amounts of data. The aim of this paper is to identify some of the critical elements in the protection of privacy rights, particularly those related to personal data most closely linked to individuals, and to raise the question of potential legislative amendments.
References
Andonović, S., Prlja, D. (2020). The Basics of Personal Data Protection Rights. Beograd: Institut za uporedno pravo, Službeni glasnik. [In Serbian]
Banović, J. (2023). “Professional Negligence” - Criminal Law Response to Professional Risks. In: N. Stekić, M. Milošević (eds.). Proceedings from the 2nd Memorial Scientific Conference “Predrag Marić”, 33-45. Beograd: Univerzitet u Beogradu - Fakultet bezbednosti. [In Serbian]
Berman, J., Mulligan, D. (1999). Privacy in the Digital Age: Work in Progress. Nova Law Review, 23 (2), 549-583. Available at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/nlr/vol23/iss2/2
Beširević, V. et al. (2017). Commentary on the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Beograd: Službeni glasnik. [In Serbian]
Blume, P. (2010). Dana Protection and Privacy - Basic Concepts in a Changing World. Scandinavian Studies in Law, 151-164. Available at: https://www.scandinavianlaw.se/pdf/56-7.pdf
Case of Hurbain v. Belgium, Application no. 57292/16, July 4th, 2023 Available at: https:// hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-225814
Constitution of the Republic of Serbia (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 98/2006 and 115/2021). [In Serbian]
Criminal Code (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 85/05, 88/05, 107/05, 72/09, 111/09, 121/12, 104/13, 108/14, 94/16, 35/19 and 94/2024). [In Serbian]
Delić, N. (2021). Criminal Law - Special Part. Beograd: Univerzitet u Beogradu - Pravni fakultet. [In Serbian]
Directive (EU) 2016/680 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by competent authorities for the purposes of the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or the execution of criminal penalties, and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Council Framework Decision 2008/977/JHA
Draft on Criminal Code of Serbia, Available at: https://www.mpravde.gov.rs/sekcija/53/radne-verzije-propisa.php [In Serbian]
Draft on Criminal Procedure Code of Serbia, Available at: https://www.mpravde.gov.rs/sekcija/53/radne-verzije-propisa.php [In Serbian]
Elliptic (2024). Preventing Financial Crime in Cryptoassets. Typologies Report 2023.
European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ratified with additional protocols in the “Official Gazette of Serbia and Montenegro - International Agreements”, No. 9/2003, 5/2005, and 7/2005 - corrected, and the “Official Gazette of the RS - International Agreements”, No. 12/2010 and 10/2015). [In Serbian]
General Data Protection Regulation - GDPR (Regulation /EU/ 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC)
Gill, L., Redeker, D., Gasser, U. (2015). Towards Digital Constitutionalism? Mapping Attempts to Craft an Internet Bill of Rights. The Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, Research Publication (15), 1-26. Available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2687120 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2687120
Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 24 September 2019. Available at: https://eurlex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=celex:62017CJ0507
Law on Personal Data Protection (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 87/2018. [In Serbian]
Lazarević, Lj. (2011). Commentary on the Criminal Code. Beograd: Pravni fakultet Univerziteta Union. [In Serbian]
Lazić, D., Radisavljević, I. (2018). Legal Importance of Amateur Audio and Video Recordings. Godišnjak Fakulteta bezbednosti, (1), 371-389. Available at: https://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/1821-150X/2018/1821-150X1801371X.pdf [In Serbian]
Mandić, G., Putnik, N., Milošević, M. (2017). Data protection and social engineering - le- gal, organizational and security aspects. Beograd: Univerzitet u Beogradu - Fakultet bezbednosti. [In Serbian]
Matić Bošković, M. M. (2024). Impact of artificial intelligence on practicing judicial pro- fessions. Sociološkipregled, LVIII (3), 481-499. doi: 10.5937/socpreg58-51385
Milošević, M. (2021). Personal Data Protection in Criminal Law. Revija za kriminologiju i krivičnopravo, (2), 113-130. doi: 10.47152/rkkp.59.2.7. [In Serbian]
Milošević, M. (2022). Criminal Law - Special Part: Selected Offenses for Security Studies. Beograd: Univerzitet u Beogradu - Fakultet bezbednosti [In Serbian]
Petrović, Z. (2024). Video Surveillance and Personal Data Protection in the Republic of Serbia. Savremene studije bezbednosti, (1), 57-82. doi: 10.5937/ssb2401057P. Available at: https://fb.bg.ac.rs/download/zbornici/SSB-1-2024-FB.pdf [In Serbian]
Putnik, N. R., Milošević, M. M., Cvetković, V. N. (2022). Ransomware as a Security Threat - Social and Criminal Legislation Aspects. Sociološkipregled, 56 (1), 328-353. doi: 10.5937/socpreg56-36845
Romansky, P, Noninska, S. (2020). Challenges of the digital age for privacy and personal data protection. Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering, 17 (5), 5288-5303. doi: 10.3934/mbe.2020286
Ružić, N. (2024). Facial Recognition Technology, and the Rights and Freedoms - Case of the Republic of Serbia. Savremene studije bezbednosti, (1), 83-101. doi: 10.5937/ssb2401083R. Available at: https://fb.bg.ac.rs/download/zbornici/SSB-1-2024-FB.pdf [In Serbian]
Stackpole, T. (2022). What Is Web3? Your guide to (what could be) the future of the internet. Harvard Business Revie. Available at: https://hbr.org/2022/05/what-is-web3
Copyright (c) 2025 Sociološki pregled
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.