Privacy and protection of personal data – criminal law aspect

Petrović, Dragana (2022) Privacy and protection of personal data – criminal law aspect. Strani pravni život, 66 (4). pp. 469-489. ISSN 0039-2138

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Abstract

Currently, across the globe and on different levels, serious debates are held on the possibilities of modern information communication technologies (ICT), including the internet, as well as their undesirable consequences. To an ordinary person, the “new” way of communicating via the internet and mobile phone is at the same time easy, simple, quick, and essential – it has become a fact of their daily lives. Moreover, the modern age purports the internet as one of the critical means of communication. If used “properly”, it represents an abundance of information on nearly every topic and entails many opportunities. With a vast and varied amount of collected data, it easily negotiates the acquirement of new learning and the shaping of lifestyle. However, the use of modern technologies which constantly transform, at times even completely changing and automatising nearly all areas of human activity, has its dark, destructive, and devastating side. Within that perspective, life in a network becomes increasingly more susceptible to manipulation and abuse. And the list of abuses is long... from having these technologies abused as a database, to an assault on someone’s privacy, stalking, cyber-mobbing, peer violence, sexual harassment and violence, human trafficking, organ trafficking, etc. Thus, a stance is formed – the emergence of new technologies has significantly endangered the right to privacy. In recent years, the right to privacy has been mostly associated with personal data, so, in that regard – when speaking about privacy, it is nearly always done in the context of personal data processing. The right to privacy and personal data protection falls within basic human rights, so, being that it is a fundamental right of man and citizen, the baseline of its protection in our legislation is comprised within, above all, the Constitution, The Law of data protection and The Criminal Code (Art. 146. Unauthorized collection of personal data). As the title suggests, the criminal law aspect of privacy and protection of personal data provided for in Art. 143 of the CC is the focus of this paper. In this context, the author, first of all, embarked on an analysis of the current state of threats to the right to privacy as a prerequisite for action in the direction of its protection. Abandoning the general consideration of this type, the examination is then focused on concretely explaining the meaning and essence of the criminal act – unauthorized collection of personal data, the forms in which it manifests itself, the criminal responsibility and punishment of the person who committed this act. With the statement that this is a dynamically changing reality, some of the key problems and challenges in the application of appropriate mechanisms for the protection of the right to privacy in the Republic of Serbia (with a special emphasis on the year behind us) were highlighted.

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