Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner has opened a new investigation into the controversial Public Services Card (PSC), which has become a form of identification required by citizens seeking to access a range of Government services.
The data protection watchdog previously found the basis for forcing users to obtain the card to access some public services was unlawful, and the functioning of the card was not sufficiently transparent.
The Department of Employment Affairs then challenged the findings of the Commissioner’s highly critical investigation in the courts; that case is still to be resolved.
The rollout and expansion in the use of the card in recent years has been strongly criticised by data privacy campaigners.
The Commission has now launched a further investigation to examine the role of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in processing a database linked to the card.
Deputy Data Protection Commissioner, Graham Doyle (pictured) said the Commission had received a complaint regarding the alleged processing by the Department of the database underpinning the PSC.
Mr Doyle said the new inquiry would focus on the use of the Public Service Identity dataset, and other systems linked to the PSC, such as Single Customer View and MyGovID.
“The Commission will examine the role of the Department in any processing activities undertaken via Single Customer View and MyGovID, and the extent to which the Department complies with any obligations it may have for this processing under the Data Protection Act 2018,” Mr Doyle said.
The complaint was instigated by data privacy group, Digital Rights Ireland.
Dublin, 26 August 2021
