Social Democrats co-leader R\u00f3is\u00edn Shortall TD has raised strong concerns about the confidentiality and safety of citizens\u2019 data held on Public Services Cards, which are currently required by a private US company which operates driver theory tests in Ireland.<\/p>\n
Deputy Shortall said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Minister for Social Protection Regina Doherty said today that some 50 public bodies have access to individuals\u2019 private data that is stored on the Public Services Cards. This is a cause for concern, especially as the Minister failed to provide sufficient assurances about the safety and security of that data from the point of view of citizens. Many people are rightly worried about the security of their private information in terms of how it is stored, shared and accessed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not remotely reassured by Minister Doherty\u2019s assertion that the Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2013 provides the necessary legal basis for the roll out of this card before people can access public services.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are seeing on an almost daily basis a creeping expansion of the requirement by public bodies for people to produce Public Services Cards before they can access public services. The fact that the cards are also required by the private American company Prometric before people can sit the state\u2019s drivers\u2019 theory test raises fresh concerns about the legal basis for the use of this data and whether it may be accessed or held overseas.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to have watertight safeguards in place to protect citizens\u2019 rights, and that requires legislation to be debated and passed by the Oireachtas specifically detailing which public and private sector bodies can access and share information held on these cards.\u201d<\/p>\n
ENDS<\/p>\n
30 August 2017<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Social Democrats co-leader R\u00f3is\u00edn Shortall TD has raised strong concerns about the confidentiality and safety of citizens\u2019 data held on Public Services Cards, which are currently required by a private US company which operates driver theory tests in Ireland. Deputy Shortall said: \u201cThe Minister for Social Protection Regina Doherty said today that some 50 public […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,7,148],"tags":[149,150,70,43],"class_list":["post-262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-news","category-press-release","category-social-welfare","tag-national-identity-card","tag-public-services-cards","tag-roisin-shortall-td","tag-social-protection"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n