Most political parties in Ireland have breached data protection rules
An expert in data protection and retention has said it is not surprising to learn that political parties have breached GDPR rules.
Most political parties have breached data protection rules at some point, a leading expert in the field has said.
TJ McIntyre, associate professor in the Sutherland School of Law at University College Dublin, an expert in data protection and retention, said it is not surprising to learn that political parties have breached GDPR rules.
"Drawing attention to the issue by any one party is kind of like organising a circular firing squad," he said.
Dr McIntyre, the chair of Digital Rights Ireland, was speaking after political parties roundly denied their websites were in breach of EU online privacy laws.
Information stored on Sinn Fein's Abú database has become the source of controversy in recent days. The Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) requested details from the party on how it protects its online files.
Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald has admitted that her party had been in breach of data protection laws but has insisted the database is nothing more than information contained on the electoral register.
Sinn Féin has denied claims it is collecting data on voters from Facebook.
Mike O'Neill, chief technical officer of Baycloud, which offers data protection compliance to major companies, says for websites to become GDPR compliant is not technically difficult, but there is an "inertia" around the issue.
"Political parties are pretty bad at this stuff as a lot of them rely on social media. If it's functionality you require, you find a replacement, it's not hugely complicated but needs to be done."
Housing minister Darragh O'Brien has defended his personal website, saying he does not record the political affiliation of those who contact him online. The website says in its privacy statement that his work "may also entail us keeping records of the political interests and affiliations of individuals whom we come into contact with".
However, a spokesperson for the minister said that the website is a "point of contact only".
The website of Mr O'Brien, along with that of culture minister Catherine Martin, is among several personal websites of TDs flagged as potentially being in breach of GDPR and ePrivacy Directive guidelines.
Websites for TDs from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Green Party, Sinn Féin, and the Social Democrats were not compliant, an analysis by the found.
"The Minister’s constituency office does not keep records of the political interests and affiliations of individuals whom they come into contact with," a spokesperson for Mr O'Brien added.
Likewise, Ms Martin's website says that she is "allowed to do research into people’s political opinions or likely political opinions, for electoral purposes" but a spokesperson said there is no misuse of the data.
"The minister’s constituency office is currently in the process of updating her personal website on a number of matters, including in line with the latest data protection guidelines and regulations.
"There has been no misuse by the constituency office of the minister of any personal data."
An analysis found that in many cases, websites ran cookies prior to receiving consent, however, Labour, Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and the Social Democrats all said that these were permissible cookies necessary to the running of their sites.
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