The website of the Hungarian Government www.kormany.hu reports that the Prime Minister has nominated former data protection ombudsman Attila Péterfalvi for President of the National Agency for Data Protection and…
The Hungarian Government has very recently submitted to the Parliament the draft bill on the new Labour Code (the ‘Bill’) which is currently under general debate in the plenum.
As regards the current legal situation in Hungary, we already posted a summary on the general conditions for the processing of employee data, where we have concluded that the effective Labour Code secures only the minimum protection to worker’s privacy as the legislation in force currently does not regulate the data protection aspects of employment. Accordingly, the conditions and limitations of monitoring, such as the use of CCTV, the control of employee’s e-mail and internet usage have not been defined which caused legal uncertainty both to employers as well as to employees. Considering that only very little court practice is available in workplace privacy issues in Hungary, the case law of the Data Protection Commissioner is of particular importance. The Commissioner articulated in its opinions that the Labour Code does not provide a legal basis for the use of monitoring measures and certain practices – such as the use of covert monitoring, use of spy programs or monitoring of dressing rooms – could not be legitimized even if the consent of the employee has been granted hereto.
In contrast to the current legislation in force, it seems that the new Labour Code will introduce significant changes in the regulation of workplace privacy.
The Hungarian Parliament has adopted the Act No CXII of 2011 on Informational Self-Determination and Freedom of Information (the new Data Protection Act of 2011), the domestic implementation of the European Data Protection Directive (95/46/EC) which will enter into force by 1 January 2012. The new Act will replace the Act LXIII of 1992 on the Protection of Personal Data and Public Access to Data of Public Interest (the Data Protection Act of 1992). The new legislation introduces significant changes, as it establishes a stronger DPA with administrative powers and provides a “balance of interest clause” which was completely missing from the Data Protection Act of 1992.
