UN expert raises concerns over Public Services Card
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Philip Alston
The UN’s special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights has raised concerns with the Irish Government over the impact of the Public Services Card (PSC) on the rights of welfare recipients.
In his 40-page letter, Professor Philip Alston, a respected scholar of human rights law, questioned “whether it is wise to move towards a de facto national biometric ID card without a much more comprehensive, transparent and democratic debate in Ireland”.
The letter has been welcomed by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) and Digital Rights Ireland (DRI), who have raised similar concerns about the PSC scheme.
Elizabeth Farries, privacy rights spokesperson for ICCL, said: “This is a very important moment in the campaign against the Public Services Card.
“Last summer the Data Protection Commissioner asserted that the PSC project over-reach was illegal. Now we have a UN expert agreeing that there is a lack of clear legal basis for the card and that it is de-facto discriminatory.
“It is time to scrap this project, which has violated our fundamental rights for so long, for once and for all.”
Dr TJ McIntyre, chair of DRI, added: “As we await the Data Protection Commissioner’s report on the biometric aspects of the card, Mr Alston addresses that issue head on in his letter.
“He also addresses the government’s denial that the card has biometric properties. This is one of the key issues with the card: if your biometric data is accessed, stolen or hacked, there’s no going back.”
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