Privacy and Data Protection in Serbian Law: Challenges in the Digital Environment

Abstract

In the Republic of Serbia, as in other jurisdictions, there is no unanimously accepted definition of the privacy, either in legal doctrine or in legislative instruments. The national constitutions, including the Serbian one, usually protect the privacy of individuals by referring to: (1) the inviolability of home; (2) the confidentiality of letters and other means of communication; and (3) the protection of personal data. More extensively defined, the right to privacy may also encompass the freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, in the sense that the citizens do not have the obligation to declare their religious or other beliefs. The omnipresence of the Internet, and in particular social networks, search engines and cloud computing, has led to reducing the right to privacy to the right of personal data protection. Indeed, in the digital world, an individual is often reduced to data. Therefore, protecting one's privacy in the digital context means protecting data relating to an identifiable individual. The concept of personal data encompasses not just names, addresses and identification numbers, but also all data that can be traced back to an individual, such as photos, profiles on social networks or browsing history. Typically, social network websites contain user information such as age, relationship status, income, and information about close family members, as well as registered users' addresses. Many online service providers