Hungarian data too well protected?

Published
by
Steven Carlson
  on  March 8, 2005
  in  Current events and EU funding programmes
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As part of the NETIES project, my partners and I are conducting surveys in three markets (Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic) to determine the barriers and bottlenecks for small businesses participating in FP6 projects, as well as identify success stories.

One of my biggest barriers is Hungary’s overly restrictive data protection law. In order to conduct this survey, I need to obtain lists from EC partner organizations of companies that have taken part in FP6, as well as earlier programs.

Hungary’s data protection law has created an unintentional Chinese wall that prevents EC funded projects from sharing information with each other – or perhaps it’s more accurate to say the law creates a climate of fear of sharing information.

In Czechia and Slovakia, my NETIES partners have turned to other EC funded projects for these lists of companies. Here in Hungary, nearly everyone we’ve approached has refused to pass on this information, citing Hungary’s data protection law.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m actually a fan of privacy. I’d even go as far as to say that I would prefer to see laws that are too restrictive, rather than too weak. What I don’t understand is just exactly how far Hungary’s law goes, and how it is different to legislation in other countries. I found the text of the law (http://www.privacy.org/pi/countries/hungary/hungary_privacy_law_1992.html), but I wasn’t able to find much in the way of legal interpretation.

I suspect the issue here may be the common interpretation of the law, just as much as the actual text.

  • Alice Freifeld
    Steven Carlson,
    Did you receive any responses or further information on data protection in Hungary? I am an historian in the US, President of the Hungarian Studies Association. The Hungarian archives have prohibited U.S. scholars from accessing documents that include private information, such as names, even if they are available to other scholars of Hungary, the EU, Canada, etc. even if we signed the affidavits agreeing to comply with privacy protection laws.

    The research that was blocked included a musicology project on Gypsy bands that asked to see the 1950s music union records to better understand whether Roma musicians were included in the official music culture. My own work is on the 1945-48 period, reintegration of Jews, since Hungary was the only Central European country with a substantial (approx. 200,000) Jewish population that survived.)
    How does the safe harbour agreement apply? Is it trumped by local protection policy? Since your post in 2005 the Hungarian Privacy Protector, Atilla Péterfalv,y was supposed to head up a privacy committee for the EU. I haven't yet found anything on what effect this had. Were the Hungarian attitude to be adopted Europe-wide, EU-US scholarly cooperation would be put in crisis.
    Alice Freifeld
    Department of History
    University of Florida
    Gainesville, FL 32605
    freifeld@ufl.edu
  • Steven Carlson
    I haven't heard any further news about this, Alice, but we would welcome comment here from anybody else who has - Steve
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