Hungary Defines Legal Grounds For Data Processing In The Workplace

Due to the nature of employment relationships, personal employee data are processed in countless contexts every day. However, Hungarian labor regulations have very limited provisions on data processing at the workplace. Despite the fact that the data protection commissioner and the president of the data protection authority have published several opinions and recommendations on this issue, a great deal of uncertainty remains.

To provide some clarity, at the end of 2016 the President of the Hungarian National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information published guidelines on the requirements of data processing in the workplace. In addition to general data protection requirements, the guidelines also summarize the requirements for certain special types of data processing at the workplace, such as camera surveillance; the monitoring of workplace telephones, computers, Internet, and e-mail accounts; GPS and biometric systems; and whistleblowing hotlines. It