For years, and especially since the beginning of the pandemic, parts of Austria’s scientific community have been demanding better access to government databases. The coalition has submitted the necessary amendments for this research database. The review period ends on August 10th.
Before it expires, the data protection NGO Epicenter.works speaks of an impending “data protection disaster”. But the data protection authority (DPA) also lists numerous deficiencies in the sensitive project.
A new Austria Micro Data Center (AMDC) will be at its center. In addition to all data from Statistics Austria, research institutions should also use this platform to receive data from other state registers that have been approved by the relevant ministry. Unfortunately, “the anonymization of personal data” is not ensured, nor is the “independence and transparency” of the research project checked, criticizes Epicenter.works. The law suggests that banks, ministries or lobby organizations also have access to government data. In addition, there is no restriction to institutions located in Austria. Once a research project for which there is no independent specialist examination has been completed, the data can be used for other purposes, writes the NGO that Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (VP) has nominated for the “Big Brother Award” because of the law.
The DSB misses in the draft “guarantees for the protection of personal data”. Another drawback is that ministries can simply authorize external access to databases by ordinance. This would result in new interfaces for electronic data exchange. And experience has shown that these are a “gateway” for abuse.
