Department drops appeal regarding legality of Public Services Card
The then Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe, with a Public Services Card in 2016. The DPC had ruled that the card is illegal in terms of being required to access public services other than that of the Department of Social Protection. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins
The Department of Social Protection has withdrawn its appeal challenging a Data Protection Commission ruling that the Public Services Card is illegal.
The DPC announced this morning that the matter has been resolved, and the Department has acknowledged that the card cannot be made a mandatory requirement for accessing public services “in the absence of legislation”.
That had been one of the key rulings made by the DPC against the card in August 2019, which had put a stop to public bodies like the Passport Office requiring a citizen to have a PSC in order to get a passport.
The DPC said it “welcomes” the resolution of the proceedings in a statement this morning.
It said it particularly “welcomes the fact that significantly enhanced levels of information are now being provided to citizens to explain (amongst other things) what personal data is processed when an individual applies for a PSC, how it is processed, and to what end, with further enhancements to follow on the basis of additional engagement between the parties”.
The case had been due for at least an eight-day hearing in the Dublin Circuit Court from this morning, fully two years since the Department had first lodged its appeal, although the indications from a pre-trial hearing earlier this week were that both sides were locked in negotiations aimed at avoiding a full hearing.
A spokesperson for the Department said that it is now “acknowledged and accepted that the Department and other specified bodies can continue to use MyGovID (the digital side of the PSC) as the sole means of authenticating identity for the purpose of accessing online services, provided that an alternative service channel is available”.
This fundamentally means that the PSC database can still be used for public services online, so long as other portals to access those services also exist.
Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys said she is “very pleased” that the matter has been resolved.
“Given the high level of PSC/MyGovID take-up, today’s agreement is good news both for our citizens and public service providers,” she said.
“My Department looks forward to working constructively with the DPC to ensure the data protection rights of our citizens are fully protected,” she added.
The DPC had ruled, after a two-year investigation, in August 2019 that the card is illegal in terms of being required to access public services other than that of the Department of Social Protection.
It had also ruled that the State must destroy the 3.2m personal records it held on cardholders.
Regarding the former requirement, the DPC said that “at least one other option must now be provided in any case where an individual is required to verify their identity before accessing public services”.
The way would now appear to be clear for the DPC to publish a long awaited investigation into the biometric or otherwise nature of the card, which has been delayed for more than two years as a result of the now-resolved legal action.
Privacy solicitor Simon McGarr said it’s “important that the Department has acknowledged what regulators and civil society have said from the start, that the introduction of the PSC as a compulsory element of accessing State services outside of the Department of Social Protection has no legal basis”.
“It should be noted that this is only the first decision pending,” Mr McGarr said, in reference to the biometric investigation.
“A mass-complaint mandated to Digital Rights Ireland by hundreds of citizens about the illegality of the card’s use by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform likewise remains ongoing,” he said.
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