Ethnic Data and Law Enforcement – Notes on the Hungarian Context

• In Event: POLWG Panel 15. The use of data, evidence and knowledge in Policing and Criminal Justice: Exploring legal boundaries, partnerships and power relations.

Abstract

The presentation discusses the intricate relationship between ethnicity, data protection regulation, and law enforcement practice in the Hungarian context. Its purpose is to outline a problem-posing reflection on the recurring appearance and disappearance of ethnic data in law enforcement work. In Hungary, the collection of such data is subject to very tight and strict regulation in principle. The path of such data can be partially traced but is rather obscured. The core problem is evident: we are dealing with highly sensitive data in an environment that could easily leave the subjects concerned in a vulnerable position; hence, it is fundamental to know the practical steps of its ‘route’. As the regulatory framework outlined above in this presentation highlights, beyond the aforementioned dilemmas, practice must also face up to its inconsistency and contradictory nature. In order to unravel this emergent and vanishing dynamics of ethnic data, the presentation is structured as follows: first, it clarifies the relevant concepts and legal framework in the Hungarian context, including regulation at the European level, followed by a presentation of examples from the spectrum of law enforcement work, and finally concluding with the findings.

Author

• Eszter Kovács Szitkay, HUN-REN Centre for Social Sciences Institute for Legal Studies, Budapest, Hungary; University of Public Service Doctoral School of Law Enforcement, Budapest, Hungary