Serbia: Questions raised over internet privacy rights

RATEL, Serbia’s national telecommunications agency, has adopted a new by-law on July 11 that breaches human rights and privacy by requiring internet service providers to own and use equipment for passive monitoring of electronic mail and to reroute it to the authorities.

The by-law is an exception to Constitutional provisions that set out that citizens are entitled to uninterrupted personal correspondence (whether it is a postcard or an e-mail) and is implemented according to an authorisation to monitor communications issued by the Supreme Court.

“The European Institute of Telecommunication Standards defines authorized monitoring and access to private communications as security-related process in which the provider or network operator collects and provides the competent body the intercepted traffic of private persons and organizations. The operation is regulated in EU international by-laws for crime prevention (including fraud and terrorism)”, says RATEL, adding that “the field of privacy protection is regulated with other laws”.

Slobodan Markovic from the Centre for Internet Development in Serbia believes, however, that security services use RATEL to `sneak into` the internet traffic and control it.

“This document discusses obligations related to oversight of telecommunications and has not been adopted according to the proper procedure. RATEL should have brought together security agency  representatives, the Ministry of Interior and internet providers and present them with their document so that it could be harmonized with the Council of Europe recommendations. This would have guaranteed that the proper security guidelines and obligations towards the providers and vice versa were followed”, he says.

Markovic adds that providers are not opposed to cooperation with security services and that it happens regularly when there are elements of suspected crimes and foul-play.

“The whole procedure demands a written warrant that lists exactly who will be followed and monitored, which data is subject to monitoring, over what period of time and what happens with the collected data. But RATEL’s document doesn’t mention any specific protection for those who are not suspected of any wrongdoing. The general impression is that internet providers will work for the BIA (Security and Intelligence Agency) and the Ministry of Interior”, claims Markovic.

Rodoljub Šabic, Commissioner for Access to Public Information, says that the act lists too many and too vague provisions that depend largely on the personal interpretations of those who read them.

“It may look like a technical document, but in view of the significance of internet in this day and age, I would prefer that it only entered into force after serious public debate. Nobody disputes the need for the state to regulate the field. However, some acts may be considered legally binding and such a document requires a different approach”, concluded Šabic.

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