Privacy

The Data Protection Commission's landmark report on the Public Services Card (PSC) will not be published for at least another week. The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection has said it will not publish the report until a "full consideration of the report is complete".

Lawyers and opposition politicians have cast doubt on whether the flaws in the Public Services Card (PSC) scheme can be fixed through legislation. The embattled scheme was dealt a serious blow on Friday after the Data Protection Commission (DPC) said there was no legal basis to require the PSC to ac

There is no legal basis for requiring the Public Services Card (PSC) to access many public services which now require it, the Data Protection Commission (DPC) has ruled. The data protection watchdog has warned that the PSC, originally designed for welfare claimants, has become "far-removed from its

Social media giant Facebook has been asked to provide more information to the Data Protection Commission about its now-suspended practice of handing user audio clips to external contractors. Facebook is one of a number of Internet giants who have come under criticism for using contractors to review

Facebook has been ordered to pay a record-breaking $5 billion penalty by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for privacy violations following an investigation into its role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The FTC alleges that Facebook failed to safeguard user data from third parties and used t

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has issued a notice of its intention to fine Marriott International £99.2 million for infringements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The proposed fine relates to a cyber incident which was notified to the ICO by Marriott in November

Mason Hayes & Curran has announced the appointment of Brian Johnston as a partner in the firm's privacy and data security team. Mr Johnston works with companies to find solutions to their privacy and data protection problems. He helps organisations implement global privacy and data transfer prog

Facebook has lost an appeal against the decision to refer a complaint about EU-US data transfer to the Court of Justice of the European Union for a preliminary ruling. Emphasising that there were significant limitations on the issues which could be considered on such an appeal, the Chief Justice, Mr

A coalition of more than 50 civil rights groups, security experts and tech companies including Apple, Google and Microsoft have signed an open letter calling on GCHQ to abandon proposals for eavesdropping on encrypted conversations. Under the so-called "ghost protocol", the providers of end-to-end e

The Data Protection Commissioner, Helen Dixon, has been reappointed by the Government for a second five-year term. Ms Dixon was initially appointed to the role in September 2014 and has overseen the significant expansion of the remit of the Data Protection Commission (DPC), particularly following th

A new book on Irish data protection law, written by barrister Laura L. Keogh, has been published today to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Data Protection Compliance: A Guide to GDPR and Irish Data Protection Law, published by Clarus Press,

The Data Protection Commission (DPC) has opened a statutory inquiry into Google Ireland's processing of personal data. The inquiry will establish whether the processing of personal data as part of Google's personalised online advertising system is compatible with the EU General Data Protection Regul

The Irish Data Protection Commissioner, Helen Dixon, will give evidence on data privacy in the digital age to a US Senate committee tomorrow morning. Ms Dixon is one of four witnesses appearing before the commerce, science and transportation committee to discuss "Consumer Perspectives: Policy Princi

Colum Kenny, professor emeritus of communications at Dublin City University (DCU) and a qualified barrister, writes on the legal challenges posed by online privacy. Political advertising on Facebook is one of the issues that Hildegarde Naughton, James Lawless and Eamon Ryan, the three Irish members

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has fined Vote Leave Limited £40,000 for sending out thousands of unsolicited text messages in the run up to the 2016 EU referendum. An ICO investigation found that Vote Leave sent 196,154 text messages promoting the aims of the Leave campaign with t