Public Attitudes towards Surveillance and Privacy in Western Balkans: The Case of Serbia

As a part of the larger project that covers Western Balkan countries, this paper investigates the attitudes of Serbian citizens towards privacy, data protection, surveillance and security. It examines which segments of population with similar attitudes towards surveillance and privacy exist in this country, and can they be differentiated by demographic characteristics. The empirical analysis was based on public opinion survey with the nationally representative sample of 500 Serbian citizens. The findings indicate that Serbian citizens showed the highest concern about personal data manipulation, and they seem to be cautious about the effectiveness of surveillance, but some of them expressed the need for surveillance enforcement. There are three groups of citizens with similar attitudes: (1) citizens concerned about data and privacy protection, (2) pro-surveillance oriented citizens, (3) citizens concerned about being surveilled. Identified groups of citizens differ in age, education, and employment status. The empirical results of this paper could be used for comparison with other Western Balkan countries, and might be taken into consideration in the design of policies related to privacy, security, surveillance and data protection.