Data protection - A pressing issue we can’t ignore

The management, the protection or the sharing of information gathered by the State or private companies on individuals, and that person’s right to easily access that information, are hardly issues that have set current election campaigns alight.

Indeed, it is hard to recall any politician persistently arguing that the increasingly important right of people to see files held online about them is an issue that needs immediate and forceful action. It seems that the debate — once again — is shaped by the attitude that imagines any demand from citizens or customers a passing and tiresome intrusion to be worn down by inaction.

Ombudsman Peter Tyndall warned last week that some sectors of the public service still refused to embrace current realities around sharing information. He did, however, note some progress had been made but that much more needs to be done, and suggested that more urgency needs to be brought to advancing and championing openness in our public service.