[1383] Constitution of the Republic of Hungary, Chapter XII, Article 59, unofficial translation available at: http://centraleurope.com/ceo/country/hungary/constit/hucons01.html.
[1384] Constitutional Court Decision No. 15-AB of 13 April 1991.
[1385] Act No. LXIII of 1992 on the Protection of Personal Data and the Publicity of Data of Public Interest, available at http://www.osa.ceu.hu/yeast/AccessAndProtection/04.htm.
[1386] See Zita Orb, "Amended Rules on Data Protection," World Data Protection Report, Volume 1, Issue 1, January 2001 at 22.
[1387] Act No. LXXII of 1999.
[1388] European Union Article 29 Data Protection Working Group, Opinion 6/99 concerning the Level of Personal Data in Hungary, September 7, 1999, available at http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/en/media/dataprot/wpdocs/wp24en.htm.
[1389] European Commission, Press Release, "Commission Adopts Decisions Recognising Adequacy of Regimes in United States, Switzerland and Hungary," July 27, 2000, available at http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/en/media/dataprot/news/safeharbor.htm.
[1390] Homepage http://www.obh.hu.
[1391] Letters from László Majtényi, Parliamentary Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, August 4, 1999 and July 11, 2000.
[1392] There were 562 registered data controllers in 2002 alone. Staff of the Data Protection Commissioner has reached 33 employees. E-mail from Freidler Gábor, Data Protection Adviser, Hungarian Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information to Cédric Laurant, Policy Counsel, Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), July 11, 2003 (on file with EPIC).
[1393] Annual Report of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information 2000, available at http://www.obh.hu/adatved/indexek/besz/index.htm.
[1394] Recommendation of the Data Protection Commissioner, June19, 2000.
[1395] Statement of the Data Protection Commissioner, September 4, 2000.
[1396] "Ombudsman Worry about Use of Personal Data by Hungary-based FBI Staff," BBC Monitoring Europe, March 23, 2000.
[1397] Recommendation of the Data Protection Commissioner, September 14, 2000.
[1398] Recommendation of the Data Protection Commissioner, December 14, 2000.
[1399] Recommendation of the Data Protection Commissioner, December 20, 2000.
[1400] "Census Questionnaire Amended at Ombudsman's Request," BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, February 1, 2001.
[1401] Az adatvédelmi biztos beszámolója 2002 (The Report of the Data Protection Commissioner, 2002) http://www.obh.hu/adatved/magyar/2002/2_1resz.htm#2_A1; Hírösszefoglalónk, "Törvénysért_levelek. Adatvédelmi kifogás az MSZP névre szóló küldeményei miatt" ("Letters Violate the Law. Data Protection Objection because of MSZP's Mailing"), Népszabadság Online, March 13, 2002 http://www.nol.hu/Default.asp?DocCollID=42277&DocID=42798#42798.
[1402] L.K., "Majtényi: A politikusokat nem érdekli az adatvédelem" ("Majtényi: Politicians Are not Interested in Data Protection"), Népszabadság Online, August 13, 2002 http://www.nol.hu/Default.asp?DocCollID=66965&DocID=64406#64406.
[1403] "Az ombudsman szerint Orbán Viktor levele a nyugdíjasokhoz nem sértett törvényt" ("The Ombudsman Says Viktor Orbáns' Letter to Pensioners Did not Violate the Law"), Jogi Fórum, June 24, 2002 http://www.jogiforum.hu/hir/102494000810697.php.
[1404] As an example, a camera system monitoring payment on a highway was used later to identify those who had not fastened their safety belts.
[1405] Kiss Gábor, "Megfigyelt megfigyelök" ("Watching the Watchers"), Tech-tudomány, January 18, 2003 http://www.index.hu/tech/jog/urbaneye/; "Szabadtéri Big Brother Budapesten - nem önkéntes alapon" ("Open-air Big Brother in Budapest - Not on a Voluntary Basis"), Korridor, July 29, 2002 http://www.korridor.hu/Archivum_index.php?cikk=100000037427&next=0&archiv=1; Sándor Tünde, "Minden sarkon térfigyelö. Erzsébetváros teljes területét kamerák pásztázzák" ("There Is a Surveillance Camera at Every Corner. The Whole Area of Erzsébetváros Is Full of Cameras."), Népszabadság Online, July 24, 2002 http://www.nol.hu/Default.asp?DocCollID=63989&DocID=61783#61783.
[1406] E-mail from Karel Neuwirt, President, Office for Personal Data Protection, Czech Republic, to Sarah Andrews, Research Director, Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), May 15, 2002 (on file with EPIC).
[1407] Act No. LXVI of 1992 on the Register of Personal Data and Addresses of Citizens.
[1408] Act No. XX of 1996 on the Identification Methods Replacing the Universal Personal Identification Number, and on the Use of Identification Codes.
[1409] Act No. XLVII of 1997 on the Use and Protection of Medical and Related Data.
[1410] Act No. XXXIV of 1994 on the Police (Chapter VIII: "Data Handling by the Police").
[1411] Act No. LXVI of 1995 on Public Records, Public Archives, and the Protection of Private Archives (Restricting Rules on the Publicity of Documents Containing Personal Data).
[1412] Act No. IV of 1991 on Furthering Employment and Provisions for the Unemployed.
[1413] Act No. LXXII of 1992 on Telecommunications.
[1414] Act No. CXXV of 1995 on the National Security Services, etc.
[1415] "OECD Removes Hungary From Money Laundering List," Hungarian News Agency, June 22, 2002.
[1416] Act No. CXIX of 1995 on the Use of Name and Address Information Serving the Purposes of Research and Direct Marketing.
[1417] Criminal Code, Sections 177-178, available at http://www.privacy.org/pi/countries/hungary/hungary_criminal_code.html.
[1418] Act No. XXXIV of 1994 on Police.
[1419] Act No. LXXV of 1995 on the National Security Services.
[1420] "Technical Costs of Phone Tapping Estimated at HUF 10bn," MTI Econews, April 17, 1998.
[1421] John Horvath, "Internet Backdoors in Hungary," Heise Online, April 5, 2002.
[1422] "Hungarian Party's Phones Bugged," BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, March 8, 2001.
[1423] "Fidesz 'Bugging' Probe Underway," The Budapest Sun, September 3, 1998.
[1424] United States Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2000, February 2001, available at http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2000/eur/index.cfm?docid=774.
[1425] "Justice Minister Denies Increase in Secret Surveillance," BBC Worldwide Monitoring, November 20, 2001.
[1426] Péterfalvi Attila, August 6, 2002 http://www.obh.hu/adatved/magyar/2002/mell12.htm#M_23; "A Mécs-bizottság nem tehet közzé adatokat. Az ombudsman a bizottsági meghallgatás után is fenntartja véleményét," Népszabadság, August 27, 2002 http://www.mszp007.hu/html/2002/08/nsz0827.htm; Kovács Zoltán, "Frusztrációs eljárások" ("Frustrating Procedures"), élet és Irodalom, October 11, 2002 http://es.fullnet.hu/0241/monokli.htm; "Ügynökmúlt - Mécs Imre nyilvánosságra hozta a listát" ("Past Agent. Imre Mécs Published the List"), Népszabadság Online, August 30, 2002 http://www.nol.hu/Default.asp?DocCollID=69268&DocID=66460#66460.
[1427] Report contributors include employees of the Commissioner for Civil Rights and of the Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, as well as some non-governmental organizations, e.g., the Hungarian Content Providers' Association (MTE).
[1428] Navarro, "Internetszabályozási koncepcióval állt elö_az ORTT. Az önszabályozás elö_nyt élvez" ("ORTT Came Forward with an Internet Regulation Plan. Self-regulation Will be Preferred") Tech-tudomány, June 19, 2002 http://www.index.hu/tech/jog/ortt0619/; "Az elektronikus úton végzett nyilvános kommunikáció tartalomszabályozásának alaptételei" ("The Principles of Content Regulation of Electronically Publicized Communication") http://www.ortt.hu/tanulmanyok/koncepcio_20020619.doc.
[1429] Radio Free Europe, June 28, 2002.
[1430] Radio Free Europe, June 20, 2002.
[1431] Signed May 13, 1993; enacted October 8, 1997; entered into force February 1, 1998.
[1432] Signed November 6, 1990; enacted November 5, 1992; entered into force November 5, 1992.
[1433] Signed November 23, 2001.