IRELAND
A team of senior Irish Public Servants has been working on the possibility of introducing facial recognition technology to boost the numbers of people signing up for the controversial MyGovId platform.
MyGovId is an online service where members of the public can submit a driver’s licence application or apply for a student grant, among other things.
A Public Service Card (PSC) is needed to apply.
The PS team supported facial recognition tools to allow people to apply for the platform “from the couch” after the numbers signing up flagged.
The idea was discussed in light of a mediocre European Union assessment of how the Irish state made public services available digitally.
However, the PSC is under a cloud, with the Data Protection Commissioner reporting there was no lawful basis for the mandatory use of the card aside from welfare payments.
The Commissioner also found the state was unlawfully retaining the information of millions of people who applied for the card.
MyGovId has proven similarly controversial in recent weeks, with media reports that having a MyGovId account would be the only way to access the new National Childcare Scheme.
PS employees have expressed unease at the low sign-up rate for MyGovId to date; while more than three million people have a PSC, only a fraction of these have signed up for a MyGovId account.
Meanwhile, Irish Rail has been forced to deny it has been using the PSC to record passenger movements.
The accusation came from lawmaker Sean Fleming, who claimed the rail network had used the card to issue a fine to one of his constituents after the person’s rail pass had expired.
A spokesperson for Irish Rail said it held no such information and demanded a retraction.
Dublin, 3 November 2019
