Lacmanović: Due to the small number of criminals, we cannot provide information on all of them

Member of the Council of the Agency for the Protection of Personal Data and Free Access to Information Radenko Lacmanović said that the body did not discuss the removal of registration numbers from the websites of the Real Estate Administration and the Tax Administration because, as he said, there was no legal basis for that.

"The Council decides based on the appeal, and since the Administration complied with the order of the Agency's controller and they did not complain, that point was not on the agenda of the Council because it decides based on the appeal in this case," Lacmanović told "Vijesta".

He added that he supports the controller's position that publicly available ID numbers are contrary to the Personal Data Protection Act.

"The position of MANS is 'slaughtering an ox for a kilo of meat' because the personal data of 650.000 citizens cannot be publicly exposed due to several tens of identification numbers of possible criminals or corrupt officials. European Union experts have stated on several occasions that such actions cause damage to citizens and we are obliged to protect them", said Lacmanović.

MANS recently complained about the decision of the Tax and Real Estate Administration to disable the search of their registers by the birth number of individuals. They claim that by doing so, state institutions have enabled criminals to cover up their dirty dealings with companies and real estate. MANS warns that this will make it more difficult to detect and process cases of corruption within those institutions.

Denial of access to data was condemned by the Network of Research Centers of the Region OCCRP (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project) as well as Transparency International.