Legislation currently before the Oireachtas would create a “free-for-all” for organisations to set up shop in Ireland and to influence elections with impunity, data protection experts have claimed. ‘Blanket permission’Data-protection consultant Daragh O’Brien, managing director of Castlebridge, said the Data Protection Bill 2018 currently going through the Oireachtas created “a blanket permission” for organisations of any kind harvesting personal data for ‘electoral activities’. The Bill passed the committee stage in the Seanad last month and will give effect to the new EU General Data Protection Regulation and an associated directive on policing matters. The Department of Justice said on Monday that section 43 “imposes safeguards on the processing of personal data; it does not allow for the sharing of such data”. European Parliament president Antonio Tajani said on Monday: “Allegations of misuse of Facebook user data is an unacceptable violation of our citizens’ privacy rights.

Source: The Irish Times March 20, 2018 06:00 UTC