The digital state is coming
Bills on the digital state and in connection with the digitisation of documents were also discussed in Parliament on Tuesday. Balázs Hidvéghi, State Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office, described it as a strategic concern of the Orbán government to shift state and social relations to the digital space. In this sense, a new era in the digitalisation of state services is being ushered in.
Smartphone at the centre
The digital citizenship programme focuses on processing cases via mobile phone, as almost nine out of ten Hungarians already use their mobile phone to access the internet. The aim is to simplify processing and make it faster and more efficient. ‘In future, nobody will have to carry their identity documents with them,’ explained the State Secretary. The ID card can already be downloaded into the so-called DÁP app, which already has 300,000 users. From February 2025, all personal data will be digitally accessible and available for notarisation. In future, documents will only be issued in paper form if specifically requested by the citizen. This will have an environmental effect, as it will save 11.1 tonnes of plastic and 1.2 tonnes of paper per year, Hidvéghi said, pointing out a positive side effect of digitalisation.
Concerns of the opposition
The DK is fundamentally in favour of the bill, not only for reasons of environmental protection, but also because the digital handling of data reflects modernity. However, the rules of data protection should not be weakened for this reason, and the state should not abuse digitalisation. The party of former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány does not like the fact that the authorities not only exchange personal data of their citizens with each other, but also with banks, insurance companies and utility companies. A supervisory authority only exists on paper so far.
Jobbik emphasised that digitalisation must remain an optional extra; there should be no compulsion. The government camp has become addicted to a digitalisation ‘fetish’, while millions of Hungarians are reluctant to submit to digital constraints. The state simply assumes that all citizens have smartphones and internet access. In order to control the dangers associated with digitalisation and the spread of artificial intelligence (AI), a strategy for relevant consumer protection must be adopted.
For Mi Hazánk, it is clear that the government wants to restrict people’s freedom. Digitalisation is being forced on citizens and those who cling to paper-based personal documents are being discriminated against. The bill takes no account of the digital risks, although there is no security against certain (hacker) attacks on the internet. In Norway, these dangers have since been recognised and ‘total digitalisation’ has been abandoned and laws have been passed to protect the use of cash.
Reaction to global processes
At the end of the debate in Parliament, the State Secretary explained that digitalisation was not a government decision, but merely a reaction to global processes. The digital citizenship application (DÁP app) is intended to make everyday life easier for citizens. Hidvéghi emphasised that no personal profiles would be created and that the state would not collect any additional information. Apart from that, the app will not be mandatory and those who wish to do so can continue to make use of the personal customer service at government offices. The use of cash has nothing to do with the bill.
