Public service card may be illegal, fears ICCL

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) is “deeply concerned” that the public service card (PSC) may be illegal and that it also impacts on those living in poverty.

The card was introduced in 2011 and given to people who received social welfare payments but now it is being rolled out as the preferred proof of identity for other public services.

ICCL recently surveyed 164 bodies directly or indirectly listed as having permission to use the PSC.

Of those who responded, 91% said their office did not specifically benefit from the PSC and almost three quarters (73%) said they did not intend to implement it.

Almost one in 10 (9%) said they would seek to limit any further rollout of the card and one Government agency said it had privacy concerns about it.

ICCL’s information rights project programmes manager, Elizabeth Farries, said people were contacting the council because they were concerned about how their data would be used if they got a PSC.

They also wanted to know if they could use other forms of identification for certain services.

Ms Farries said people were finding it extremely difficult to even get the most basic information.

The council decided to conduct a survey of the bodies in a bid to find out how they were using the card.

“We came up against the same lack of clarity and, in some cases, complete ignorance about the system,” said Ms Farries.

ICCL is deeply concerned that the card may be illegal and also that it impacts disproportionately on those living in poverty.

The council has invited the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty, Philip Alston, to Dublin to talk further on the poverty issue later this month.

Of the 164 bodies surveyed by the council, only 42 responded and the council believes this reflects the “general opacity” surrounding the card.

“At ICCL we were concerned but unsurprised by the low response rate,” said Ms Farries.

Liam Herrick, the Executive Director added that government agencies are offering “inconsistent” information about the use of the card