HUNGARIAN LEGISLATIVE AMENDMENTS RELATING TO THE GDPR

The Hungarian Government submitted a bill to the Hungarian Parliament in February 2019. The goal of the new legislation is to amend more than 80 acts in order to comply with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). According to experts, these amendments could bring an easier and more uniform application of the data protection laws.

Although the majority of these amendments contain solely technical provisions, there are also some substantive changes. For example, the Hungarian Labour Code will be supplemented by provisions governing the processing of employee data. It contains arrangements for the security of the processing of biometric data and personal data processed in criminal matters, as well as new rules concerning the monitoring of workers. In this respect, the legislation would ban the private use of computing equipment provided by the employer and would also grant greater monitoring rights to the employer.

Another field where the bill would impose significant amendments is the provisions concerning health and human genetic data. The legislation would extend the scope of data concerning health, and the rights of deceased persons would have greater protection. The bill would also clarify the rules governing the electronic protection of properties, for example, the usage and storage of CCTV footage. As a result, the new law would not contain provisions relating to the data retention period, i.e. it would leave the decision solely to the data controller’s discretion.

Once the Hungarian Parliament passes the bill, it will enter into force within 15 days from adoption.