A new Hungarian state agency has control over a vast amount of personal data

A new state organization can now trade personal data generated in public administrations. The new non-profit company is controlled by the newly established National Data Assets Council. Its members are Antal Rogán, Sándor Pintér, and László Palkovics. NAVÜ is a state agency that enables the collection, organization, and trade of data generated by different parts of the state.

Mérce quoated dr. András Levente Gál who said that “we might have an advantage on the market” and “Hungary can be as good for data-intensive companies as Switzerland was for bank systems”.

“The state agency will also be in charge of data systematization as well as creating a public data portal to ensure access to public data and public data cadastres. The agency will be also responsible for ensuring personal data protection through regular anonymisation of data. In addition, the NAVÜ is legally entitled to obtain individual data from public administrative institutions.” – the portal explains.

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Information-based societies made data a valuable asset. Thanks to data, the government or individual parties on the market can gain access to valuable information. This helps them see certain processes in society.

Whenever we think about this concept, Facebook or Google come to our mind. Data mining can violate personal privacy rights, and certain data can be damaging to people with lower social statuses. Data of affluent people with spending power are more valuable.

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Another issue with the Hungarian organization is that the idea might go against the European plan. The European Union aims to come up with methods to ensure a universal regulation regarding data. However, Hungary would like to keep its sovereignty and have a competitive data economy.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, the leading nonprofit organization defending civil liberties in the digital world, states that data should not be viewed as a commodity. The foundation’s mission is “to ensure that technology supports freedom, justice, and innovation for all people of the world.” They also have some accessible tools on their website that can be used for data protection.