Hungarian Data Protection Authority Investigates Alleged Use of Webloc Surveillance Software

The Nemzeti Adatvédelmi és Információszabadság Hatóság (NAIH) has launched an investigation into the possible use in Hungary of a surveillance software called Webloc, which is capable of mass monitoring. This was reported by Panyi Szabolcs, a journalist from VSquare, on his Facebook page.

VSquare reported in early April that, according to their information, Hungarian state authorities had purchased and acquired a program called Webloc, developed by the Israeli American company Cobwebs Technologies, and have been using it for surveillance purposes since at least early 2022. Webloc tracks users without their knowledge by using advertising data from smartphones. According to VSquare, Hungary is the first EU member state proven to be using this program, even though its use would presumably be prohibited under the European Union’s data protection regulation, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

In his Facebook post, Panyi added that the historical data obtained by Webloc can be used to reconstruct individuals’ movements and daily routines, and that anonymous digital profiles can be linked to real individuals almost in real time. The Toronto based Citizen Lab has also published a detailed analysis of how Webloc operates and is used, including screenshots showing targets moving in Hungary and located in Budapest.

A week after the article was published, the Hungarian data protection authority responded by stating that it would take steps in the matter. Péterfalvi Attila, the president of NAIH, said that the authority “had no prior knowledge, before the press reports, of the aforementioned tool or its alleged use by Hungarian authorities.” He confirmed that no complaints or reports regarding Webloc had previously been submitted to the authority, and announced that, based on the VSquare article, “the authority is launching an ex officio investigation” into the use of Webloc in Hungary.