CHAOTIC DATA PROTECTION

There is a complete chaos around the SMS campaign of the government and the telephone messages popularizing the programme of one hundred steps of the government. No one knows who collects the data of citizens, who process them and how the collected information is used. The ombudsman for data protection started an investigation in the case yesterday.

The government spokesman claims the whole process has been legitimate and the Chancellery selected Young and Rubicam Ltd in a public acquisition tender for the job for HUF 275 million. The SMS opinion polls about selecting the gender of the third child or about drunken driving have been conducted, however, by Wunderman Ltd, a subcontractor of Young and Rubicam which in fact has requested the right of data management though the government spokesman denied there was any data management at all. Attila Péterfalvi, ombudsman for data protection said there had been several complaints and declared his office gave only a registration number and not a permission to collect data.

Translated by Péter Szentmihályi Szabó