AIP with 207 complaints in three months, staff and budget remain

She said that, despite the heavy burden, a considerable number of complaints have been addressed and closed.

The Information and Private Agency for (first three months) in 2026 has accepted 207 complaints. For them, a number of about 180 complaints have already been filed by the previous year. And under the treatment, we for these 207 complaints that we've received for three months, 63 have been closed and 131 complaints of last year, totally reaching 194 reported complaints in the public document access sector. We have 142 other complaints that are under way, we have final decisions of 63 and approval decisions 7. Approval decisions are decisions that simply force the institution to provide access. According to statistics, the agency remains with the same trend of providing access to citizens -- that is, getting information without the need to pronounce fines -- we still haven't imposed a fine this year on access to public documents, so all complaints that have been addressed have been offered on the part of public institutions”, she told EO.

Sogojevo-Dermak stressed that even the number of complaints about personal data protection have increased.

“While, in terms of data protection, we have received about 32 complaints this year, that is, a trend of increasing the number of complaints if compared to January last year, or quarter of last year. We've issued 29 decisions on these complaints and reports of data violations are 21 we've made so far. And so are 21 decisions made. There are 34 inspections conducted in the complaint division, so inspections on the basis of the complaint. And we have about 26 regular inspections based on the inspection plan that we do”, she said.

It raised concerns about staff shortages, stressing that the Agency operates with limited capacity.

The remaining challenge for the Agency for Information and Private is the limited number of staff. Keep in mind that we operate with six inspectors and cover the entire territory of Kosovo, public and private control, but also for physical individuals who collect personal data for the purpose of carrying out their activities. And in the public document access sector, or the department where there are two sectors, one is about monitoring and the other about complaining, we have three officials and the director, 4, supporting him and other officials who are engaged in secondary work”, she said.

According to her, budgetary restrictions are directly affecting the Agency's activities, especially on awareness campaigns.

And we generally rely on limited capacities, whether human or human, that is, professionals, people doing the job, but also on very limited financial capacities. That we're already struggling with narrowing these projects, which before the Agency has had many projects that have helped the agency in awareness campaigns about citizens for their rights, that is, privacy and information rights, at the same time, with a budget that is nearly forwarded to us every year the same budget is impossible. And in the inability of projects like we had years ago, that is, we will remain hostage to this budgetary inability to continue awareness campaigns. And especially in personal data protection, which again I call on all citizens, public and private controllers, to be careful how they're using the open internet. In particular, applications that have artificial intelligence based on deinformation issues through the use of new technologies that seem very real are not actually true. And take care of the children to control their children's online actions”, she said.

She added that demands for growth of the budget have been made constantly, but without concrete answers from responsible institutions.

We basically carry budgetary demands every year. Then the budget review. We present the budget in the performance plan and we show the challenges we have. Our annual report shows the challenges we face, which means that each time they are presented at least twice a year, our demands for the additional budget. We haven't had any direct answers to why we're not being given an additional budget, but we've just had a silence and a budget sharing as it is shared for other budgetary hearings that once a year is made, she said.

The commissioner stressed that, despite challenges, the agency has taken steps through digital platforms to monitor the flow of personal data, but warned that citizens' awareness remains low, especially for risks from using new technologies and artificial intelligence.

“While we have obstacles? Absolutely, our challenge to cover Kosovo's entire territory, all public and private controllers is evident. And that the way personal data works is not only a platform to keep data but there is another way when you make it live, when you take personal data through cameras, that is, it's a very broad fielder, then with 6 inspectors normally not only challenging, but it's almost impossible to meet all the requirements in relation to law enforcement. Despite all of this because we already have the digital platform for the flow of personal data that monitors the flow of data from various internet providers in Kosovo's territory and different controllers, this has served as a precautionary measure, or even informed controllers that they have data leaks and take security measures”.

So we've planned, we've put into operation platforms that help to monitor the enforcement of the data protection law through the office, that's, through a computer, not a physical inspection. However, this is a very small section covering the inspection field. And despite that, I said, we have only six inspectors who have not been working with Kosovo, with whom we haven't provided training, where there are no data officials, namely, not to speak to the public sector, but also to the private sector, they all have a data protection official. What remains a challenge is civic awareness. Citizens still do not know the danger that our personal data can bring to someone. They still don't know how this data can be used or misused and what negative impact it can have on their lives, which is not just a thunder, it's not just a lynching, it's just a mutating of mem or person and human beings in the virtual world”, she said. /Periscope