HUNGARY Law and Practice Contributed by: Adam Liber and Tamás Bereczki, PROVARIS Varga & Partners
tion, specific laws, EU regulations, and guide - lines. The Hungarian legal framework for data protection is primarily influenced and governed by the EU’s GDPR, but it also includes national and sectorial laws that complement or specify the GDPR’s provisions. • Constitutional Laws: The Fundamental Law of Hungary, which is the country’s constitu - tion, provides the basis for privacy and data protection rights. Article VI guarantees the respect for and protection of private and fam - ily life, communication, and the protection of personal data. • GDPR: As a member of the EU, Hungary is subject to the GDPR which applies directly in Hungary and has significantly influenced national laws and practices. • GDPR and Law Enforcement Directive Imple - mentation: The Information Act is the main piece of national legislation supplementing the GDPR in Hungary and it also implements the Law Enforcement Directive. The scope of the Information Act applies broadly to any data processing activity covering automatic as well as manual data processing, even if the personal data is not contained or intended to be contained in a filing system. • Sector-Specific Regulations: Various other laws and regulations address data protec - tion in specific sectors, such as employ - ment, healthcare, genetic data, criminal laws, including: (a) Act XLVII of 1997 on the Processing and Protection of Health and Related Personal Data (the “Health Data Act”) lays down the detailed rules for the processing and the professional secrecy obligations of medical personnel. (b) Act No CVIII of 2001 on Electronic Com - merce and Information Society Services is the primary legislation implementing the
EU Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2002 concerning the processing of per - sonal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (Directive on privacy and electronic com - munications). (c) Act No C of 2003 on Electronic Com - munications implements the Directive on privacy and electronic communications with regard to electronic communication services. (d) Act No XXI of 2008 on the Protection of Human Genetic Data and the Regulation of Human Genetic Studies, Research and Biobanks regulates the processing of hu - man genetic data, including the transfer of such data to other countries. (e) Act I of 2012 on the Labour Code (the “Labour Code”) stipulates that the em - ployer must respect the personal rights of workers. Employers may monitor the behaviour of workers only to the extent pertaining to the employment relationship. Monitoring measures must respect human dignity. The employer may not monitor the private lives of workers. (f) Act C of 2012 on the Criminal Code (the “Criminal Code”) penalises breaches of privacy (Section 219) and breaches of privacy of correspondence and commu - nications (Section 224), which apply to illegal wiretapping and eavesdropping of electronic communications. (g) Act V of 2013 on the Civil Code (the “Civil Code”): Sections 2:42 and 2:48 of the Civil Code establish the general protec - tion of personality rights, including rights to recorded images and voice. (h) Act LIII of 2018 on the Protection of Privacy: Section 8(1) of this Act protects the right to respect private life, including
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