Privacy

Individuals may have a right to know if their telecoms provider has been asked for their personal data by a State agency such as An Garda Síochána, the Data Protection Commissioner has ruled. In a decision issued two weeks ago, the watchdog said that a request by a State agency constit

Privacy rights campaigners have overwhelmed Ireland's data protection watchdog with calls for sweeping investigations of entire industries, Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon has said. Speaking to The New York Times, Ms Dixon suggested that many people had overestimated the impact of the EU Ge

Guidance on working from home securely has been published by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). The coronavirus pandemic has suddenly presented IT personnel and indeed all users with a set of cyber security challenges that, while not unique, are being experienced on a significantly larger s

Irish website operators have been warned they could face enforcement action from the Data Protection Commission (DPC) over their use of tracking cookies. Following a sweep of 38 websites across a range of sectors, the watchdog said users of Irish websites "are being tracked by third parties to a sig

The UK government has been advised by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) that it can use anonymised mobile phone data in order to track people who have COVID-19. Deputy commissioner Steve Wood said in a statement: “Generalised location data trend analysis is helping to tackle the coro

The number of complaints to the Data Protection Commission rose by 75 per cent last year, according to the watchdog's annual report. A total of 7,215 complaints were received in the first full calendar year since the introduction of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), up from 4,113 in

Dublin firm FP Logue has been appointed as solicitors to Article Eight Advocacy CLG, a new non-profit advocating for data subject rights in Ireland. The law firm, led by principal Fred Logue, specialises in environment, technology, data protection and information law.

The Courts Service has lost an appeal against the Data Protection Commissioner’s finding that it breached pre-GDPR legislation by publishing the name of a notice party who had been granted anonymity. Dismissing the appeal, Judge Francis Comerford said the Courts Service was obviously a data co

The Data Protection Commission (DPC) has launched statutory inquiries into practices at tech companies Google and Tinder. The watchdog said it had received complaints from consumer organisations across the EU in relation to Google's processing of location data and transparency surrounding that proce

The Department of Social Protection has formally appealed against the enforcement measures launched by the Data Protection Commission over the Public Services Card (PSC) scheme. The data protection watchdog launched proceedings against the department after concluding that the expansion of the scheme

The prospective use of CCTV cameras with facial recognition technology at the new children's hospital in Dublin is "likely unlawful", the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has said. The contractor responsible for security systems at the hospital has purchased surveillance cameras from Hikvisi

Internet giants Google and Apple will appear before an Oireachtas committee this afternoon to discuss privacy concerns surrounding their voice-activated digital assistants. It comes just months after concerns were raised about social media giant Facebook handing user audio clips to human contractors

The requirement to hold a Public Services Card (PSC) in order to apply for the National Childcare Scheme is illegal, highly discriminatory and will violate the privacy rights of people living in poverty, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has warned. The alternative paper application proce

The UK and the US have signed a bilateral agreement allowing their respective law enforcement agencies to directly demand electronic data relating to serious crime from tech companies in the other jurisdiction. The world-first UK-US Bilateral Data Access Agreement was signed by Home Secretary Priti

British royal Meghan Markle has launched legal proceedings against the publishers of the Mail on Sunday alleging a breach of data protection laws. The matter relates to a private letter the Duchess of Sussex sent to her estranged father, which was published by the tabloid in February.