Privacy

Ireland and other EU countries must overhaul their approach to making technology law to achieve cybersecurity while safeguarding the fundamental rights to privacy and data protection, according to the author of a new book. Trinity College Dublin this week hosted a launch event for Cybersecurity, Pri

Irish tax authorities may be forced to stop publishing a quarterly list of tax defaulters following a recent European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgment, according to reports. The government is examining the implications of the court's ruling in L.B. v Hungary, no. 36345/16 on 9 March 2023, in w

TikTok has been fined £12.7 million for a number of breaches of data protection law by the UK regulator, including failing to use children's personal data lawfully. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) estimates that TikTok allowed up to 1.4 million UK children under 13 to use its

ChatGPT, the advanced AI-powered chatbot which has taken the world by storm, has been banned in Italy on the orders of the country's data protection authority. In a statement issued on Friday, Italian regulator Garante Privacy said ChatGPT's US operator OpenAI was not transparent about its collectio

The Supreme Court has held that the seizure of computer devices from an accused murderer’s home was unlawful in circumstances where gardaí failed to seek authority from the District Court when applying for a search warrant. While the gardaí always intended to search the digital c

Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) imposed punitive fines of over €1 billion last year, more than two-thirds of all fines issued across the European Union. The watchdog's 2022 annual report also details multiple reprimands and/or compliance orders supervised and enforced following the c

Google has reversed a decision to remove search results relating to a man's serious criminal conviction in Ireland under "right to be forgotten" laws. The search giant had removed links relating to the 2010 conviction of Mark McCormick, who admitted to running six brothels in Dublin and was sentence

The High Court has granted leave to Bank of Ireland to lodge a tender in proceedings on condition that the tender only becomes effective after the conclusion of the discovery process. The lodgement application had been made after the discovery process had begun and the bank claimed that it wished to

Mark D Finan BL and Rose Caroline McGrath BL explore a new development in litigation seeking damages arising from data breaches in Ireland. Data Protection Day 2023 brought a new development in litigation seeking damages arising from data breaches in Ireland pursuant to Article 82 GDPR and s.117 Dat

The Circuit Court has granted a stay on a plaintiff’s proceedings against Fastway Couriers for damages arising from a GDPR breach until the determination of preliminary references by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The defendants brought the application claiming that the pre

WhatsApp has said it will appeal a decision by Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) to impose a €5.5 million fine for forcing users to consent to the processing of their personal data for service improvement and security. A spokesperson for the messaging platform, which is already challen

Ireland's privacy watchdog is facing a court battle over its "untenable" decision that a Facebook data leak did not amount to a data breach. The Data Protection Commission (DPC) last year imposed a €265 million fine on Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (MPIL) following its investigation into the d

Mason Hayes & Curran partner Colin Monaghan and associate Anthony Strogen look at recent case law developments concerning data breach claims and the threshold for awarding compensation. Prior to the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), an individual whose information wa

The Data Protection Commission (DPC) has imposed fines totalling €390 million on Meta Ireland in connection with its Facebook and Instagram platforms. Meta has said it strongly disagrees with the DPC's findings and will "appeal the substance of the decision" in the Irish courts.

Ireland's data protection watchdog has launched an inquiry into media reports of a Twitter data breach affecting millions of users. In a statement issued just before Christmas, the Data Protection Commission (DPC) said it had launched an own-volition inquiry pursuant to section 110 of the Data Prote