Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On October 1, 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the “CJEU”) issued its judgment in Weltimmo v Nemzeti (Case C-230/14). Weltimmo, a company registered and headquartered in Slovakia, runs a website that allows property owners in Hungary to advertise their properties. The CJEU stated that, in some cases, Weltimmo had failed to delete the personal data of the advertisers upon request, and also had sent debt collectors to some advertisers despite their earlier attempts to cancel their accounts. The advertisers complained to the Hungarian Data Protection Authority (“DPA”), which investigated the matter and issued a fine of HUF 10 million (approximately 36,500 USD) against Weltimmo.

On June 6, 2013, the European Union’s Justice and Home Affairs Council held legislative deliberations regarding key issues concerning the European Commission’s proposed General Data Protection Regulation (the “Proposed Regulation”). The discussions were based on the Irish Presidency’s draft compromise text on Chapters I to IV of the Proposed Regulation, containing the fundamentals of the proposal and reflecting the Presidency’s view of the state of play of negotiations. At the Council meeting, the Presidency was seeking general support for the conclusions drawn in their draft compromise text on the key issues in Chapters I to IV.

On January 17, 2012, the European Commission initiated expedited infringement proceedings against Hungary over recent changes to its Constitution which are considered incompatible with EU law. The proceedings follow a number of changes made to the Hungarian Constitution that came into effect on January 1, 2012. Of particular concern to the Commission are amendments affecting the independence of the national data protection authority. The Hungarian government has one month to comply, or face enforcement proceedings in the European Court of Justice.

• During the “New principles in the field” panel, Professor Paul De Hert of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel gave an explanation of the case I v. Finland, which was decided by the European Court of Human Rights on July 17, 2008, and which both he and European Data Protection Supervisor Peter Hustinx agreed was a key document for the concept of accountability in European data protection law.  Endre Szabó of the Hungarian Ministry of Public Administration and Justice noted that the principle of accountability had not yet been fully accepted by all members of the European Council.

On June 16, 2011, the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union hosted the first day of a high-level international data protection conference in Budapest.  The conference was attended by approximately 150 people, most of whom are representatives of EU governments, data protection authorities (“DPAs”), the European Commission, and other governmental groups such as the Council of Europe.