Biometric security monitoring for household charge staff

Staff who have access to homeowners’ files to allow them to chase payment for the household charge will be monitored by a biometric security system to prevent the theft of personal data.

The unprecedented move, agreed between the body handling the collection of the household charge and the Data Protection Commissioner, will enable the staff to be tracked through either their palm or fingerprints.

A limited number of staff with the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) overseeing the collection of the charge will be granted access to databases from other agencies to track down non-payers.

The biometric security system guarding the databases in the agency’s offices on Ushers Quay, Dublin, is one of the first ever used to protect information in a government agency. Staff with access to the files will be screened through biometric security — a system that identifies people through their physical traits — with either their palm or fingers.

The restricted access to details on homeowners comes after a number of recent incidents of theft of personal files from government departments, some of which are the subject of probes.

Strict regulations agreed between the Data Commissioner and the LGMA about the use of personal data to pursue homeowners were published this week. They govern the exchange of data between the Revenue Commissioners, the Department of Social Protection, the Private Residential Tenancies Board and electricity providers, with the LGMA.

The protocols say the LGMA has “comprehensive security arrangements in place, including biometric access, accompanied access and CCTV monitoring”.

Details being handed over from agencies will include addresses, names and “unique identifiers” which will be used to cross-check lists of those who have paid the €100 charge.

A process of elimination will give collectors a database of the remaining property owners who have failed to pay the charge, estimated to number 670,000 by last night.

Deputy data commissioner Gary Davis yesterday welcomed the move to use the biometric systems.

“We’re not aware of a precedent of this in the public sector. It is comforting.

“We will at some point obviously verify the systems. “Our office is trying to reassure people where data is stored that it will be secure.

“It’s a step up from key pad access [to rooms]. The issue of theft of data has been a constant theme we’ve hit upon.

“This will minimise the likelihood of the data falling into the wrong hands.”

The Department of Agriculture recently launched a probe over an employee allegedly accessing financial records of an unstated number of farmers.