Irish Examiner view: Privacy right but also the public good

Department of Social Protection in the dock over public services card data gathering

Paschal Donohoe registering for a public services card in 2016. The Department of Social Protection was this week found to have infringed GDPR in a case concerning use of card data. File picture

By now, anyone with half an eye on current events is accustomed to news of tech companies misusing users’ personal data.

Hardly a week goes by, it seems, without some social media giant or other being fined millions for data breaches, a repetitive trope which makes one wonder whether lessons are being learnt at all.