Hunton & Williams Advises Serbian Commissioner on Data Protection Law

Lisa Sotto, partner and head of the Global Privacy and Data Security Practice at Hunton & Williams, was interviewed on July 18, 2012 about her participation in the USAID-funded Judicial Reform and Government Accountability Project’s initiative to educate and provide data protection awareness to the Serbian government. As we reported last week, Sotto was invited to Belgrade to assist Rodoljub Sabic, Serbia’s Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection, and the JRGA Project. Sotto, who also is Chair of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee, spent last week advising the Commission on steps to enhance Serbia's data protection framework.

Radio Television of Serbia ("RTS") interviewed Sotto about her work in Serbia. In the RTS interview, Sotto described Serbia's data protection law as providing a good foundation for data governance and noted that the law closely follows the EU regime. "The challenge is to educate [Serbian] organizations on applying the law and understanding its requirements," said Sotto. Sotto discussed how the proposed EU Data Protection Regulation will impact the future of data protection law around the world, including in Serbia.

During the training Sotto provided to the Commission and Ministry of Interior representatives, Sotto addressed general data protection laws and practices, data breaches and lessons learned. Sotto also spoke about how individuals can play a role in safeguarding their own data.

In a separate interview with Serbian radio and television broadcaster B92, Sotto discussed the importance of protecting individuals' personal data, the scope of the data protection law in Serbia, the role of the Serbian government in promoting data privacy, and ways to improve upon the existing framework.

Sotto said about her experience in Belgrade, "I am deeply honored to have been invited by the Commissioner and the JRGA Project to assist in developing Serbia's data protection framework. The Commissioner and his staff have a strong understanding of global data protection issues and I look forward to continuing to assist the Commissioner in further developing Serbia’s data protection regime."