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Rights groups oppose ID number
The Irish Examiner 29 Oct 2002
By Carl O'Brien, Political Correspondent

GOVERNMENT plans to make citizens' personal details available to local authorities have been criticised by civil liberties campaigners. The State is considering giving each citizen a unique number from birth as part of a drive to cut down on red-tape and form-filling when accessing the public service.

The central State database is to be established next year and will eventually be expanded so local authorities can access the information. But Liam Herrick of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties said yesterday there are no safeguards to ensure this information would not be abused. "Access to citizens' personal information should be as limited as possible rather than as wide as possible," he said. "We're not up to speed on data protection legislation, which protects people's privacy, when you compare us to European countries. Neither do we have the safeguards to ensure this information is not misused." But according to the Department of Social Welfare the system is solely aimed at cutting down on red tape in the public service and cannot be misused. A spokesperson said it would shorten the length of time spent dealing with departments and agencies and speed up delivery of services. "From now on this number will be of huge benefit. The purpose of it is that people will be able to use it across all departments," a spokesperson said. Mr Herrick said he was concerned at the lack of scrutiny paid to important pieces of legislation which have the potential to impact adversely on citizens' civil liberties.

"One of our real concerns is these things aren't being debated. There's no input from bodies like ourselves, no consultation from a privacy perspective. We've a constitutional right to privacy, but no legislation to protect it." He said the Government still has not implemented important EU data protection measures, and said the Data Protection Commissioner was powerless when it came to certain records. He said the Irish Council for Civil Liberties was particularly alarmed at developments in the area of criminal and judicial co-operation in Europe, such as steps to draw-up an EU-wide arrest warrant. "The EU arrest warrant could effectively mean that we are abolishing our extradition law. The Dáil is barely reading legislation like this," he said. The Government, however, argues it has stepped up its procedures in the scrutiny of EU directives and laws. In the fallout of the defeat of the Nice Treaty last year a special committee was established aimed at ensuring all Brussels-based legislation is inspected in the Oireachtas before it becomes law

posted by A Curmudgeon 6:26 PM