Ministry of Interior of Serbia (MUP)
NEC NeoFace Watch real-time facial recognition, supplied by NEC
ProposedJournalismPAI-1C4D8BDC
- Body
- Ministry of Interior of Serbia (MUP)
- Country
- Serbia
- Technology
- NEC NeoFace Watch real-time facial recognition
- Supplier
- NEC
- Status
- Proposed
Planned by a named body: a procurement, approved budget, announced pilot or consultation. Not yet in use. - Stage
- On the horizon
- Since
- Not known
- Legal basis
- Not stated in the source
- Oversight
- Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection, which carried out an extraordinary inspection of the ministry's processing of personal data (reported by Beta, via N1, on 28 September 2023)
- Evidence
- Journalism
Named reporting by a reputable outlet - Source
- BIRN, via N1 Serbia, 28 May 2026
- Last checked
- Record code
PAI-1C4D8BDC
Notes
The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), in an investigation republished by N1 on 28 May 2026, reported that "well-informed" sources in the Ministry of Interior (MUP) had confirmed to it that NEC's NeoFace Watch software, which can recognise faces in real time, had been "nabavljen i instaliran" (procured and installed). BIRN reported that an amendment to the ministry's public procurement plan for 2019 listed an "NEC face recognition system", but that no official tender was ever published. NEC, NtechLab (whose FindFace software the same investigation also reported) and the ministry did not answer BIRN's questions, so the acquisition rests on anonymous sources and use of the software by the police has not been confirmed. BIRN also reported that a closed public consultation on a new draft police law was held in early April 2026 and that the draft does not mention biometric technologies, unlike earlier drafts, which were withdrawn after negative public reaction. Separately, the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection told Beta in September 2023, after an extraordinary inspection, that it had not been established that the ministry was using software for biometric processing of personal data, and that acquiring such software does not in itself constitute processing. No region or start date is given in the sources.