Data recorded on smart meters should not be a secret.
ESB Networks have been installing smart meters all over Ireland and using them to collect detailed information on electricity consumption. The meters also record other information apart from consumption. We think this includes information about the quality of the electricity system, such as whether there …
You don’t need a Public Services Card to make a social welfare claim
You don’t need a Public Services Card (PSC) to make a social welfare claim. Over on X, Citizens Information have confirmed that “You can apply [for a social welfare benefit or allowance] without a PSC if using a paper application form.” The Citizens Information Board …
Twenty questions for Minister for Justice as mass surveillance of Ireland’s entire population is secretly approved by the High Court
The identity of every person you phone, text, and/or email, the date and time of when you do so, and the location of where you are when you do so, is now being retained by mobile phone companies for Garda access. It follows the Department …
Digital Rights Ireland takes DPC to Court Over Facebook’s 530 Million Users’ Data Leak
Digital Rights Ireland goes to court over Data Protection Commission’s decision regarding Facebook’s responsibility for its 530 million user data leak. 10 January, Dublin – Digital Rights Ireland is appealing against the Irish Data Protection Commission’s decision that the leaking of over 110 million EU-based …
Statement on collation of dossiers by Department of Heath and Departmental ROPA document
We were disturbed by recent revelations on RTE’s Prime Time Investigates in relation to the Department of Health. According to the program, the Department was collating dossiers on families who had made claims against the Department and other state bodies to seek to obtain their …
DRI Welcomes the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill
DRI welcomes the new Oireachtas law criminalising the sharing of intimate images without consent. The Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill introduces a new offense, “Distributing, publishing or sending threatening or grossly offensive communication” to address the ongoing crisis of online bullying and harassment. …
Cloak-and-Dagger and the Pandemic Unemployment Payment
The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection has an important task – to distribute cash to people who need it -. It’s a critical function in our society, especially at a time of instability like the COVID-19 crisis. This task is necessarily a feat of …
#No2PSC Update for October
We’ve sent our first monthly update out to the hundreds of Public Services Card holders who have signed up as parties to our #No2PSC complaint to the Data Protection Commission. Briefly: The complaint is drafted and has been sent to the DPC with the first …
DRI Launches #no2psc Legal Campaign Against Public Services Card
Civil Rights Advocacy Group Leads Ireland’s First “Mass Action” Legal Campaign DUBLIN, 25 September — Digital Rights Ireland, the public advocacy organisation dedicated to defending civil, human and legal rights in a digital age, has today launched the #no2psc Campaign at https://no2psc.digitalrights.ie/. “The Public Services …
Reddit AMA on the Public Services Card
We’re delighted that DRI’s Antoin O Lachtnain will be hosting an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit’s r/Ireland today from 12pm – 3pm to answer questions about the Public Services Card, why we oppose it, and our new #no2psc campaign officially launching later today. The …
Stop upload filter censorship – oppose the Copyright Directive
The European Parliament will vote on the Copyright Directive this week, on 26 March 2019. Over 100,000 Europeans went on the street to protest at the weekend. Article 17 (formerly Article 13) is the most contentious part of the proposed Directive. It provides for automated filtering …
Tusla: questions to answer about data protection
Under Article 37.1 of the GDPR, all public bodies are required to have a Data Protection Officer (a DPO). The DPO is the person in the organization who is charged with ensuring the organization complies with data protection legislation. For organisations with large databases of …