Hungary interview recording laws: the Civil Code consent rule, secret recording and NAIH guidance

In Hungary, recording a job interview needs the candidate's agreement. Section 2:48 of the Civil Code says that making and using a voice recording requires the consent of the person concerned, and the Criminal Code punishes secretly intercepting and recording communications, or secretly recording what happens in a non-public room, to learn personal data without authorization. On top of that, the GDPR and the Labor Code limit what an employer may collect, and the data protection authority (NAIH) says unsuccessful candidates' data must be destroyed once the selection closes. This is the position as of November 2026.

This page adds Hungary to our country series alongside Poland, Romania and Austria. It is for recruiters, agency consultants and hiring managers who interview candidates located in Hungary by video or phone, including from the US. What sets Hungary apart is that the consent requirement sits in civil law, as a personality right, independently of the lawful basis you choose under the GDPR.

Hungary's rules at a glance

Do you need the candidate's consent to record an interview in Hungary?

Yes. The Civil Code (Act V of 2013) treats a person's voice recording as a personality right. Section 2:43 lists "infringement of the right to one's image and voice recording" among the named infringements of personality rights, and section 2:48(1) says: "The consent of the person concerned is required to make and to use an image or voice recording." Section 2:48(2) exempts only crowd recordings and recordings of public appearances, and an interview is neither. Section 2:42(3) adds that conduct the person consented to does not infringe a personality right, which is why consent is the way through.

NAIH reads the rule the same way. Its guidance on making and using voice recordings (tájékoztató hangfelvétel készítéséről, felhasználásáról, 2016) says that a person's voice and a voice recording are personal data, that under the Civil Code making and using a voice recording requires the person's consent, and that a person must be told at the start of a call that it is being recorded, so they can decide whether to agree. For recorded meetings (its example is a meeting of condominium owners), it says people who do not agree must be able to speak without being recorded. The guidance predates the GDPR, so its references to the old Hungarian data protection rules are out of date, but the Civil Code rule it describes has not changed.

Two practical points follow. Consent and the GDPR lawful basis are separate questions: you might rely on legitimate interests under Article 6 GDPR and still need the candidate's agreement to record under the Civil Code. And because the agreement should be real, have a way to carry on with handwritten notes when a candidate says no.

Is secretly recording a call a crime in Hungary?

It can be. Section 422 of the Criminal Code (Act C of 2012), "prohibited data acquisition," punishes whoever, "for the purpose of gaining unauthorized knowledge of personal data, a private secret, an economic secret or a business secret," among other things:

• "secretly spies on the content of communication conducted through an electronic communications network or device, or on an information system, and records what was perceived with a technical device" (section 422(1)(d)); or
• "secretly observes or records, using a technical device, what happens" in a room or area that is not a public place or open to the public (section 422(1a)(b)).

Both are felonies punishable by up to three years' imprisonment, and passing on or using what was obtained is punished the same way (section 422(3)). Section 224 separately covers spying on a communication "transmitted to another" over an electronic network. The offenses turn on secrecy and on obtaining information without authorization. An interviewer who tells the candidate and records with their agreement is not acting secretly. A hidden recorder in an office, or a colleague quietly recording an interview they are not in, is the risk.

What does the Labor Code let an employer ask a candidate?

The Labor Code (Act I of 2012) sets the frame for what employers collect. Section 10(1) says the employer may require "a statement or disclosure of personal data that is relevant to the establishment, performance or termination of the employment relationship" or to enforcing a claim under the Code, and section 10(5) requires the employer to inform the person in writing about that processing. Section 9(1) applies the Civil Code's personality-rights rules to employers and employees. NAIH's guidance on workplace data processing applies the same relevance test to job applicants: information about private life, relationships, family life or religion is not relevant to establishing employment.

A recording captures everything said, including asides a candidate volunteers. Keep your questions job-related, do not draw out private details, and leave anything irrelevant out of the notes and scorecard you keep.

What does NAIH say about candidates' data?

NAIH, the Nemzeti Adatvédelmi és Információszabadság Hatóság, has published three documents that matter for interviews:

• Lawful basis. A NAIH paper on handling employees' personal data, written after the 2019 changes to the Labor Code (NAIH), notes that consent is generally not accepted inside an employment relationship, because the parties are not equals. Since that relationship does not yet exist at the application stage, consent cannot be ruled out for some selection processing, "but the safest is perhaps to base the processing on the employer's legitimate interest," supported by a balancing test.
• Purpose and deletion. The same paper says data collected for selection may be used only to run that selection, and when it closes, "when the employer knows whom it will make an offer to," unsuccessful applicants' personal data must be destroyed. The exception is the applicant's explicit, unambiguous and voluntary consent to keep it, and even then keeping application materials "beyond 1 year is unnecessary."
• Notes are personal data. The 2016 workplace guidance says any note the employer makes about an applicant is the applicant's personal data, that the applicant's right to information extends to the conclusions the employer drew, and that the employer must delete those notes too. It calls it good practice to ask for consent to keep materials only after the selection process has closed, and it says anonymous job ads, in which applicants cannot tell which employer they are applying to, are in principle not acceptable.

How long can you keep recordings and transcripts?

For candidates you do not hire, only until the selection closes, on NAIH's reading. If you want to keep a candidate for future roles, ask after the process ends, keep only what you need, and set a period under one year. For the person you hire, move only what the employment relationship needs into the employee file. Our retention policy template gives the structure, and candidate data access requests covers copies: under Article 15 GDPR a candidate can ask for the recording and transcript, answered within one month.

What if you record your own recruiters' calls?

Then the Labor Code's monitoring rules apply to your staff. Section 11/A(1) allows an employer to monitor employees' conduct related to their employment, including with technical means, and requires it to inform the employee "in advance in writing." Section 9(2) allows a restriction of an employee's personality rights only if it is strictly necessary for a reason directly connected to the employment and proportionate, again with prior written information. Section 9(3) says an employee's statement disposing of a personality right is valid only in writing. A phone system that records every recruiter call needs that written notice and a documented necessity case.

What if you interview a candidate in Hungary from the US?

An employer or agency established in the EU is covered by the GDPR under Article 3(1); a US company with no EU establishment is covered where Article 3(2) applies. The Civil Code protects the candidate's voice wherever you sit, and your own state's law governs your side of the call; see two-party consent states. A recording sent to a US vendor needs a transfer basis under Chapter V of the GDPR, such as the Commission's adequacy decision for the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (certified recipients only) or standard contractual clauses.

Can you use AI note takers or transcription?

Yes, on the same footing: notice before you start, the candidate's agreement, a documented lawful basis, a transfer basis for any vendor outside the EU, and deletion when the selection closes. A live transcription tool still processes the candidate's voice, so treat it like a recording and ask. A tool that scores or ranks candidates is likely to be a high-risk system under the EU AI Act, and Article 22 GDPR limits decisions based solely on automated processing. Interview Signal, for example, captures audio on the interviewer's own computer with no bot joining the call, shows a read-aloud consent line with a one-click pause, and does not retain audio after transcription; the transcript is still personal data under the rules above.

A consent line for interviews in Hungary

Mielőtt elkezdjük: szeretném [rögzíteni a beszélgetésünket / egy
programmal leiratot készíteni a beszélgetésről], hogy pontosan
jegyezzem a válaszait. A [felvételt / leiratot] csak ehhez a
kiválasztási eljáráshoz használjuk, csak [a megbízó / a felvételről
döntő vezető] ismerheti meg, és az eljárás lezárása után [időtartam]
elteltével töröljük. Hozzájárul ehhez? Nemet is mondhat, vagy bármikor
kérheti, hogy állítsam le; ez semmilyen hátránnyal nem jár a
jelentkezésére nézve.

(Before we start: I'd like to [record our conversation / make a
transcript of it with software] so I capture your answers accurately.
We'll use the [recording / transcript] only for this selection
process, only [the client / the hiring manager] will see it, and we'll
delete it [period] after the process closes. Do you agree? You can say
no or ask me to stop at any time; it won't count against your
application.)

Put the Article 13 details, including the employer's identity, in the invitation and your candidate privacy notice. More wording is in the interview recording consent script.

Checklist before you record interviews in Hungary

• Candidate told at the start, asked, and the answer noted; a way to continue without recording.
• Only interviews you take part in are recorded; nothing covert.
• Article 6 basis documented (NAIH points to legitimate interests with a balancing test) and Article 13 notice given in writing.
• Questions limited to what is relevant to the job; private details left out of notes.
• Recordings, transcripts and notes on rejected candidates deleted when the selection closes, unless the candidate asks you to keep them, and then for under a year.
• Access requests answered within one month, including the conclusions you recorded.
• Recruiters told in writing before their own calls are recorded or analyzed.
• US vendors certified under the Data Privacy Framework or covered by standard contractual clauses.