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By Max Strozzi
Vienna – The issue described by NEOS as “the biggest data scandal in the republic” surrounding a data record that has been in existence for years and is used to process the fund of hardship for entrepreneurs has caused more waves. As reported, Pinken and data protection NGO Epicenter Works criticize the fact that private data, such as the private address of a million citizens, was visible to everyone through this database on the home page of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, not only data from celebrities, but also from psychotherapists, for whom it is important that not everyone knows the address of their home, said NEOS MP Douglas Hoyos.
He sees responsibility with the Minister for the Economy Margarete Schramböck and the Minister for Finance Gernot Blümel (both ÖVP). The Ministry of Economic Affairs said that, together with the Ministry of Justice and experts, such records should be examined and “agree on data protection.” Hoyos acknowledges the debt that the supplemental registration website has been removed from the Internet.
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In Thomas Lohninger’s view of Epicenter Works, it was incomprehensible why the record was available to the public without access restrictions, such as a login: “Access was open to everyone.” This made it possible for years to get all the data from the suction record, he criticizes. He has been invited by the Minister for the Economy Schramböck to help repair the registry.
Specifically, this is the “Supplemental Registry for Other Affected Persons” (ERsB). It can be used to register freelancers who are not registered in the business register or in the association register. The purpose of an entry is to have a “digital identity”, a number that is now also required for application in the background of difficulties. Registration is regulated in the Supplemental Registration Ordinance 2009. It also specifies what data is recorded: including the name, legal or organizational form, and company address, which is often identical to the private address of self-employed workers.
This record should also “be kept as a public record that […] remains available on the Internet, “says the regulation. Perception for everyone is also recorded.” The master number registration authority has one at the request of each person. […] To issue a log extract related to entries related to a specific person in question or a specific person in question. “
Public access is legally covered for ÖVP. Club boss August Wöginger accused the NEOS of artificial excitement, scandal and a shameful mistake. The regulation was also approved once by Chancellor SP Werner Faymann.
It is questionable to what extent this regulation is compatible with the General Data Protection Regulation (DSVGO) that has been in force since 2018. “The ministry should have examined the matter with the DSVGO at the latest,” says Hoyos. Blaming former Chancellor Faymann is “last level.” According to their own information, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has maintained the registry since the end of 2018, before it went to the data protection authority. “Technical crashes” have prevented an “absorption” of data since 2017.
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The SPÖ was outraged. Finance Minister Blümel “cannot say, ‘My name is rabbit, I don’t know anything,'” SPÖ business spokesman Christoph Matznetter said. The FPÖ also expressed: “Order, order – this scandal needs to be cleared up. It is interesting that ÖVP is solely responsible in this context. “
NEOS received approval from the Greens. It has to be verified and clarified if and what publication of data is necessary, said his network policy spokesman Süleyman Zorba: “The ministry has to review the regulation with the participation of experts in such a way that the interests of citizens in the matter are protected. data protection “.
The Chamber of Commerce, which manages the difficulties fund, said yesterday that data protection had been observed. There are no interfaces between the supplemental record and the troubleshooter. Requests could continue to be made to the difficulties fund.
