Serbia’s surveillance systems are rising amid a democratic deficit: report

From schools and streets to and public companies and parks, Serbia has been building up its CCTV surveillance system, reaching 8,000 cameras. While the Balkan country has not yet legalized biometric surveillance, civil society organizations are warning that digital surveillance is growing – and the European Union’s AI Act may not be enough to prevent it, according to a new report by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) Serbia.

The report details the development of surveillance technologies in the country amid a decline in democratic standards recorded by international organizations.

Serbia has attempted to legalize biometric surveillance with a draft Law on Internal Affairs. While the draft was quashed under public pressure in 2022, authorities continued to install cameras. At the beginning of 2024, BIRN mapped out a large number of institutions that own cameras and facial recognition software for surveillance. These figures have been supplemented by Radio Free Europe (RFE) which uncovered that 42 local governments procured surveillance cameras, some with facial recognition capabilities.

Despite keeping close relationships with both Russia and China, Serbia has been a candidate for EU membership since 2012, meaning that regulating facial recognition could be governed by the AI Act in the future. The report, however, warns that the European rulebook does not prohibit the use of remote biometric identification systems in public spaces.

“While adequate regulation of AI technologies at the EU level would be a positive move for Serbia, it may not completely eliminate the risks associated with the security of technological design of smart cameras,” the report notes.

Serbia’s foray into surveillance systems began in 2017 after Belgrade’s contract with Huawei to create a Safe City project. The company installed 1000 cameras in the capital equipped with facial and license plate recognition. The use of surveillance increased after the Covid-19 pandemic and during anti-government protests in 2020, 2021 and 2023.

Serbia’s cameras are mostly supplied by Chinese manufacturers, such as Dahua and Hikvision, often through intermediaries such as Macchina Security. The country has previously attempted to combine the cameras with facial recognition software solutions such as those from Swedish company Griffeye but today, most purchases involve a complete set of hardware and software from the same manufacturer.

The report argues that purchasing these systems could also put Serbian data at risk as Chinese laws require companies to store data in China and provide access to public security services.

Alongside biometric surveillance, Serbian authorities have been using espionage tools such as big data analysis tools and spyware, the report notes. The research concludes the public is unaware of the risks of facial recognition surveillance, highlighting policy steps that could help battle the proliferation of the technology.

“The Serbian experience with biometric surveillance is a powerful reminder of the importance of supporting and empowering civil society as a bulwark against authoritarianism,” it says.

Article Topics

AI Act  |  biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  cctv  |  facial recognition  |  Serbia  |  video surveillance