According to the National Authority for Freedom of Information and Freedom of Information (NAIH), since Monday's publication of the summary on the use and authorization of the Pegasus spy software in Hungary, several articles containing non-factual, false and misleading statements have appeared in the press.

Attila Péterfalvi, the president of the NAIH, wrote in a statement delivered to MTI on Friday: the authority's published summary does not state that 100 cases out of the alleged list of 300 were investigated. They could not have made such a selection, since the authority does not have the list containing the names and telephone numbers of the 300 Hungarian citizens. During its investigation, the authority was also unable to ascertain whether such a list existed at all, as Amnesty International did not cooperate with it, the president said.

According to his description - as detailed in the published summary - the authority's investigation was specifically aimed at whether the Hungarian law enforcement agencies and national security services used spyware in the case of people who appeared in the press, and if so, whether this activity was consistent with the personal data with the legal requirements for its management and protection. One part of the authority's investigation was therefore aimed at specific, named people, he added.

The president of the NAIH also stated that: in the other part of the investigation, the authority, following the statistical data requested from the National Security Service, requested from the ordering bodies (data controllers) the case file and license numbers of all cases related to the application of the device, from which all the submissions and legal cases included in the list of case files produced during the sampling responsible ministerial decision (permit) was checked individually during the on-site inspections held at the ordering bodies (data controllers).

The case files selected during the sampling, as well as the examination of the possible involvement of the disclosed persons with the use of tools, made up the almost one hundred cases referred to in the summary, wrote the president of the NAIH.

Based on the Act on Informational Self-Determination and Freedom of Information, the authority's competence only covers the verification of the legality of external licensing by the minister responsible for justice, not the verification of the enforcement of the right to the protection of personal data in relation to court data management operations, so judicial licenses cannot be requested from the authority's number lack of control - drew attention to Attila Péterfalvi.

He also explained that, during the verification of the legality of the external authorization by the minister responsible for justice, the authority examined the submission in each case to see if it met the formal, procedural and content requirements defined in the legislation. The authority also examined whether the submitter had properly verified that the collection of secret information was necessary in the interest of national security.

The investigation of the authority thus extended to the examination of the existence and nature of the national security interest, as well as whether the submitter proved this with facts. In each case, the authority also examined whether the Minister of Justice justified the granting of the external license with regard to the facts and circumstances detailed in the specific submission, reads the announcement.

In its procedure, the authority checked only the decisions of the minister of justice affected by the investigation, and did not examine in general how the order of the release was developed in the authorization procedure. According to the current legal provisions, the National Security Committee of the Parliament is entitled to the latter, therefore the authority ex officio sends the published summary to the chairman of the committee, said the NAIH president.

In the end, Attila Péterfalvi emphasized that the authority did not encrypt (classify) any data in its procedure, "it applies the classification legally established by the submitters".

"The facts described above are also included in detail in the summary available on the authority's website," the announcement concludes.

MTI

Cover image: Illustration / Photo: MTI EPA JOHN G MABANGLO