Legislative proposal on national data assets

A legislative proposal has been submitted in November 2023 on the system of utilization of national data assets. The primary objective of the proposal is to ensure the applicability of the data governance regulation in Hungary and to make the existing laws on secondary usage of the national data assets coherent in a regulatory environment. The scope of the proposal covers services related to the use of data processed by public authorities, the performance of other related public tasks and data collection and analysis in support of government decision-making.

In order to ensure the lawfulness and security of secondary usage of data assets, the proposal lays down a number of principles which the authorities regulated by the act are obliged to follow. According to the principle of transparency, in order to provide adequate information and transparency, the authority is obliged to use the National Public Data Portal to publish the public data listed in Annex 1 of the Privacy Act. The principle of exclusivity prohibits the authority to conclude agreements that grant exclusive rights regarding the secondary usage of national data assets. Non-discrimination must also apply to the processing of data and fulfilment of requests.

The proposal indicates institutions supporting the utilization of national data assets. The Minister responsible for the implementation of national data asset management is expected to coordinate the performance and completion of obligations regarding the utilization of the national data assets. The National Data Council is to be set up as a decision-preparatory and proposal-making body of the Minister. Its tasks include proposing to the Minister the general principles of national data asset management, the Government's data policy and its enforcement, and the applicable professional rules. The National Data Agency is a body designated by the Government to perform and coordinate public tasks related to the promotion of the use of national data assets. One of its most important tasks is to coordinate and supervise the utilization of the national data assets from a professional point of view.

The proposal also contains a list of centralised and registration-based data utilization support services. The request for data utilization support services may be submitted electronically to the central or registered service provider. Once requests have been received, the public authority has a cooperation-obligation towards the claimant. This means that the public authority is obliged to make the data available to the service provider and to provide the descriptive information necessary for the processing and further use of the data.

The proposal currently awaits detailed discussion by the Hungarian Parliament.