Iccl

Computing experts have raised serious privacy and data harvesting concerns relating to Google software running on the phones of all Android smartphone users who want to use Ireland's COVID-19 contact tracing app. Professor Douglas Leith, chair of computing systems at Trinity College Dublin, and his

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has welcomed "ambitious and positive" commitments in the draft Programme for Government agreed by Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party. The civil liberties group said there were strong commitments in relation to 10 of the 18 calls for human r

Criminal penalties for breaking restrictions on movement introduced to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic have been scrapped. New regulations which came into force yesterday do not include a criminal penalty for people travelling more than 20 kilometres outside of their county.

Data protection experts have published a "principled framework" for the development of a contact tracing app to help stop the spread of COVID-19 in Ireland. The document, produced by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) alongside Digital Rights Ireland and independent academics and experts,

Gardaí should lose the power to arrest people for failing to comply with public health guidelines in less than two weeks, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has said. The rights group has called for the policing powers introduced under the Health Act 1947 (Section 31a – Tempor

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has written to the Garda Commissioner over the "wholly inappropriate" involvement of armed gardaí in the response to coronavirus. The group wrote to Garda Commissioner Drew Harris yesterday afternoon following reports from across the State about ar

Researcher Ethan Shattock argues that disinformation is a human rights issue and a human rights approach is needed in potential regulatory responses. In recent weeks, the outbreak of COVID-19 has demonstrated how false rumours, unverified information, and harmful lies can be spread with rapid speed

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has said it will closely monitor the Government's use of new emergency powers introduced to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement yesterday, the rights group said new restrictions on non-essential services and outside gatherings were "necessary

The Irish Government's emergency coronavirus bill should be time-limited or include a "sunset clause", the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has said. The Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) Bill 2020 is due to be introduced in the Dá

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has announced it will award the ICCL Human Rights in Film Award and the inaugural ICCL Lifetime Contribution Award at a ceremony in Dublin next month.

Four of Ireland's main political parties have committed to all eight election demands issued by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL). The group challenged all parties to commit to its eight "human rights asks", which cover issues ranging from abortion access to hate crime and image-based sex

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has challenged candidates in the upcoming general election to commit to eight "human rights advances". The civil liberties group today launched its election manifesto, which sets out "immediate goals in the larger project to shape a society where everybod

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

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