{"id":798,"date":"2019-08-16T11:26:38","date_gmt":"2019-08-16T10:26:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/government-must-answer-for-abject-failures-on-data-protection\/"},"modified":"2024-01-26T10:56:29","modified_gmt":"2024-01-26T10:56:29","slug":"government-must-answer-for-abject-failures-on-data-protection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/government-must-answer-for-abject-failures-on-data-protection\/","title":{"rendered":"Government must answer for abject failures on Data Protection"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cIn an era where there is legitimate concern about the use, ownership and manipulation of Big Data, it is astonishing that this Government proceeded to collect and hold data on citizens without any legal basis.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Social Democrats have called on the Government, in particular Ministers Donohoe and Doherty, to publish the full report of the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) and to publish all the advice on which they made the decision to enforce widespread use of the Public Services Card to access public services.<\/p>\n

Speaking on behalf of the Party, Councillor Carly Bailey said \u201cthe findings of the Data Protection Commissioner on the Public Services Card (PSC) demonstrate yet again a failure of basic governance by this Government.<\/p>\n

“We expect our own Government to operate under the rule of law and protect its citizens. Yet, despite continuous warnings by data protection legal experts, civil rights organisations and the raising of the issue many times in the D\u00e1il by Party co-leader R\u00f3is\u00edn Shortall TD, the Government ploughed ahead with an illegal use of citizens\u2019 data.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are glad that the DPC has called a halt to the creeping use of the PSC as a mandatory identity system. There has been no proper public debate on the use of the PSC in such a widespread way, and we still have serious concerns about the level of safeguards in place around the data and penalties for misuse.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis type of public administration by stealth lacks transparency, threatens people\u2019s rights and is just not acceptable. This fundamentally affects the privacy of every citizen in the State.<\/p>\n

\u201cMinister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Regina Doherty TD., has said that the PSC was \u2018not compulsory but mandatory\u2019. We now need to know the basis on which the Government made the decision to enforce the creeping use of the PSC as a requirement for accessing basic public services. It is clear that they were operating outside the rule of law.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis debacle undermines public confidence in how the State can provide good public services and how the State can protect its citizens.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn an era where there is legitimate concern about the use, ownership and manipulation of Big Data, it is astonishing that this Government proceeded to collect and hold data on citizens without any legal basis. In particular, that the PSC data was shared by private companies by this Government \u2013 for example the private company that provides the Driver Theory Test. We welcome that the DPC has said that Government must delete the data it collected on citizens through the PSC application.<\/p>\n

“There are very significant other questions which arise from the DPC findings, notwithstanding that the DPC says other reports and findings are yet to be issued:<\/p>\n