IRMA v. Eircom – Why ISP filtering for the music industry is a bad idea
You might have noticed that the big music firms are suing Eircom, demanding that it put in place a system for monitoring peer to peer filesharing and blocking transfers of their music. We think that this is a bad idea. Here’s why. Intermediaries, not police …
Implementing data retention – where’s the consultation?
This is a letter which the Department of Justice wrote in July 2006 indicating that they would consult us before drafting any measures implementing the Data Retention Directive. 18 months later we still haven’t heard anything concrete from them, despite reports that they plan to …
Irish Privacy Expert – “Big Brother philosophy threatens public’s privacy”
Professor Robert Clark is a leading Irish expert on privacy and the law. Here’s what he had to say in the Independent about the Government’s handling of personal privacy: Big Brother Philosophy Threatens Public’s Privacy Do the Irish Government and state agencies — health, prison, …
80 Government laptops missing – how much of our personal information is in the wrong hands?
Today’s Irish Independent covers the revelation (via Ruari Quinn’s Dáil questions) that over 80 government laptops – together with other items such as USB keys and Blackberries – have been lost or stolen over the last five years. It appears from the responses to those …
Today is European Data Protection Day – What can you do to safeguard your privacy?
Today, Monday 28th, is European Data Protection Day. Last year we marked this with a post giving some practical ways in which you could protect your privacy. This year, the single most important thing you could do is to help stop data retention in Ireland. …
DRI condemns backdoor implementation of surveillance laws
Government proposals to introduce surveillance of all internet users are unacceptable. The proposed law will require Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to log details of every email, every instant message or chat message, and every time users log on or log off, and to store that …
Ireland guilty of “systemic failure” to protect privacy – Privacy International
Ireland continues to suffer from a systemic failure to protect privacy, according to the new report of watchdog Privacy International on Leading surveillance societies in the EU and the World 2007. Their 2007 Report is a comprehensive document based on a survey of 47 countries …
UK security breaches – Irish situation is no better
The Data Protection Commissioner has said that the recent UK security breach could just as easily happen in Ireland and that public bodies have ignored years of warnings about data security: Data Protection Commissioner Billy Hawkes has issued a stark warning about the dangers of …
UK security breach shows why data retention must be stopped
From the Irish Times: Britain’s prime minister Gordon Brown and chancellor Alistair Darling were left reeling last night after the astonishing disclosure that the personal data of 25 million people and 7.25 million families across the UK has been lost. The Metropolitan Police are now …
Even more social welfare leaks
Today’s Irish Independent has details of yet another case of a civil servant in the Department of Social and Family Affairs selling personal information to the media. As before, there is no evidence of any official inclination to take these cases seriously – the offender …
Yet more social welfare leaks
Today’s Irish Independent reveals still more leaks from the Department of Family and Social Affairs, along with information that the leaks were used by criminals to target their victims. As we’ve said before, there is a systematic problem of staff in public bodies abusing sensitive …
Safeguards needed for CCTV systems
Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan today announced more funding for community CCTV schemes. Unfortunately these schemes still fail to comply with basic safeguards recommended by the Law Reform Commission nearly ten years in its 1998 Report on Privacy. Experience in other jurisdictions have shown that …
