Department facing 24 legal actions over use of biometric data in Public Services Card

Biometric data refers to any information that can identify a person by their physical characteristics — for example, via a fingerprint or, in the PSC case, a photograph.

The Department of Social Protection has said it is facing 24 separate legal actions connected to the use of biometric data in the Public Services Card.

In an update for the Public Accounts Committee, the department said it was “aware of 24 outstanding circuit court cases brought by members of the public arising from the Public Service (sic) Card/retention of biometric data”.

A spokesperson for the department said, however, the cases predate an adverse ruling from the Data Protection Commission last summer.

In that ruling, which was accompanied by a €550,000 fine, the commission said the card does use biometric data — which the department had denied — and such processing would have to be discontinued within nine months unless the State could find a valid legal basis for its use.

Biometric data refers to any information that can identify a person by their physical characteristics — for example, via a fingerprint or, in the PSC case, a photograph.

The State had long denied the PSC uses biometric data, despite a person’s photograph appearing on every version of the card. 

It instead argued it created an "arithmetic template" from the photo for processing purposes — a method it claims does not constitute biometric data.

Asked for further detail regarding the 24 outstanding cases, a spokesperson for the department said it had been lodged “in advance of the 2021 Public Services Card DPC Inquiry” adding the cases have “not progressed”.

Regarding the DPC decision handed down in June, 2025 — the nine-month timeline for implementation of which is due to expire next month — the spokesperson said the DPC was not concerned the biometric process involved with the card had “caused harm”.

Rather it said it “does not consider that the legal provision that exists is, in its view, clear and precise enough to satisfy the requirements of GDPR”.

It noted the department had filed a legal appeal against the DPC ruling last July, which remains before the courts.

A previous, similar legal battle between the department and the commission over the proposed mandatory nature of the card ended in a settlement in December 2021 after more than two years in the courts.

The card is now used daily by millions of Irish citizens — not just for receiving welfare payments, but also for services such as renewing driving licences and accessing the National Childcare Scheme.