Government did not breach data protection laws with Public Services Card database

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe, TD launching the Public Services Card campaign in 2016. It is the primary means by which Irish people access welfare payments. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins

The Data Protection Commission (DPC) has ruled that a Government department did not breach data protection law in ordering an amendment to its privacy statement regarding the Public Services Card database.

The DPC Helen Dixon concluded that the Department of Social Protection had not interfered with the role of its data protection officer (DPO) in ordering that references to the Department’s processing of biometric data be removed from its privacy statement in July 2018.