Dr TJ McIntyre

Patrick O’Donovan, the minister for culture, communications and sport, is expected to seek approval for a new “digital wallet” scheme from his government colleagues this week.

According to The Irish Times, the new digital wallet will be based on the existing MyGovID scheme and will be piloted in the first quarter of 2026.

It could ultimately be used to confirm the ages of Internet users amid an EU-wide push to ban social media use among under-16s.

However, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) and Digital Rights Ireland (DRI) have raised concerns about the scheme.

Joe O’Brien, executive director of ICCL, said: “These reports suggest the minister wants every adult and child in Ireland over the age of 15 to present a MyGovID whenever they want to post on social media. On what legal basis?

“These digital IDs require a Public Services Card, and child safety cannot be successfully secured through the use of a database that has been found to be illegal.

“This kind of disproportionate response to a very real issue veers into the realm of authoritarianism. We need a much broader public discussion.”

Dr TJ McIntyre, chair of Digital Rights Ireland, said: “Giving government data about identity to social media platforms will give them even more information about individuals than they have already.

“It will give them access to government databases which will make their targeting of advertising and content algorithms at adults — including vulnerable adults — even more effective.

“It would also mean, in effect, that users could no longer browse the Internet with any degree of anonymity.

“Most websites are connected to social media/advertising companies through use of cookies and hidden image files.

“Connecting the social media and advertising companies’ databases to MyGovID would mean that every web page access could be traced back to a specific Irish holder of a Public Services Card.”

MyGovID itself has no legal basis in Irish legislation. A decade after its inception, it is still being run as a pilot project, without any statutory underpinning whatsoever.

Olga Cronin, human rights and surveillance senior policy officer of ICCL, added: “For the State to consider expanding or relying further on the already-controversial MyGovID system, especially as it’s underpinned by an unlawful facial biometric database and is still under investigation by the DPC, is deeply irresponsible.

“For the State to team up with Big Tech as a means to dismantle online anonymity and identify internet users only compounds these issues.”