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AN OIREACHTAS COMMITTEE has warned that the rollout of the controversial Public Services Card (PSC) both raises “significant human rights concerns” and may leave the State financially liable due to data protection breaches regarding EU law.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) this morning went before the Joint Committee on Employment Affairs and Social Protection and said that the PSC should be discontinued in its current form as:
The council added that it is “gravely concerned” regarding the project as a whole.
The PSC was first introduced in 2012, and initially was used purely as a gateway for jobseekers’ benefit.
As of last summer its usage has been expanded to driver theory test and first-time passport applications, together with all services offered by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP) – with further expansion to many more services firmly in the pipeline.
Speaking this morning before the committee, executive director of the ICCL Liam Herrick lambasted the legislative developments regarding that PSC, and said that the project should be suspended until the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) has completed an investigation into the scheme.
Consistent criticism
The legality or otherwise of the PSC project has been one of its most consistent criticisms, grouped with the suggestion that it is an attempt to create a national ID card by stealth.
“We have a number of lawyers working for us who have struggled to identify a clear picture as to where the social welfare acts currently stand,” he said.
The initial legislation used to establish the card was the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005. That has since been amended consistently, year on year, since 2010.
Herrick pointed out that the four sections of that act on which any grounds for expanding the PSC are based have been amended 74 times between them, and that no consolidated, standalone act has ever been drafted, a fact bemoaned by his colleague at the committee Maeve O’Rourke, who stated she had recently spent eight hours trying to negotiate the various acts seeking for a coherent statement of purpose, to no avail.
“The government has repeatedly cited the SAFE2 (Standard Authentication Framework Environment – which involves taking a citizen’s photo and signature, among other things) classification for identity authentications as opposed to the old SAFE1,” Herrick said.
To be clear, this is an internal departmental distinction, not any recognised international standard.
He bemoaned the lack of a “clearly defined independent supervisory authority” with responsibility for monitoring the management and security of the public’s data with regard to the PSC, “despite this being the norm of EU law where issues of surveillance and privacy are concerned”.
Herrick also made what he said was an “important political point”, that the card “unfairly targets those dependent on welfare payments, the most vulnerable sections of society”, citing the example of a lady who had her State pension stopped late last year after refusing to register for a card.
“Ordinary people have asked the government what the legal basis for the card is and received no answer,” he said.
“There should have been an open democratic discussion before the project was initiated, and it is deeply regrettable that is not how the government has chosen to proceed.”
“The ICCL is not convinced that the PSC is necessary to achieve a legitimate aim, and believe is a disproportionate interference with privacy.”
There is an inquiry by the DPC into this scheme. We call on the committee to call on the government to suspend the scheme as it currently stands.
‘Major risk’
The PSC has never been discussed in a dedicated debate in Dáil Éireann. Over three million cards have been issued thus far, with the total project costing the State in the region of €60 million.
The card is currently subject to an investigation by the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) Helen Dixon as to whether or not it complies with the law. It has also been highlighted by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) that no actual business case was ever prepared with regard to the card project.
Speaking on RTÉ Morning Ireland today DEASP Minister Regina Doherty reiterated that she has no plans to suspend the PSC.
“I won’t, no,” she said.
A week doesn’t go by without a case being prosecuted of social welfare fraud that was discovered by SAFE2.
She added that the decision to expand the card to other departments was “not my plan”.
That’s Public Expenditure and Reform. I only look after it in the guise of accessing social welfare.
Doherty said that, in justification of the movement to the SAFE2 system of identification, “times are changing, technology is changing, what used to be acceptable is no longer”. “SAFE2 is working. It’s a more thorough process, a more detailed process”.
Director of Data Compliance Europe Simon McGarr meanwhile said at today’s committee hearing that the Public Service Identity (PSI) database which underpins the card itself is “one of the major financial risks that the State has taken on” regarding data protection compliance.
He said that the when it comes to compliance with EU standards (not to mention the comprehensive General Data Protection Regulation which is set to take effect in May of this year) the “State is attempting to legislate away its own duties”, by for example making government bodies exempt from fines for data breaches.
“All Irish legislation lives under the shadow of European law,” he said. “Whatever laws are passed, and the State has passed all sorts on the data sharing front, they cannot surpass the requirements of the CJEU (Court of Justice of the European Union).”
I’m attempting to sound the alarm. This is not something beneficial to the state financially. So far the project has cost €60 million. The State says it has garnered somewhere between €1.7 million and €2 million in savings. It is costing the State money and there is a significant uncrystallised liability also.
McGarr suggested that a government decision of September 2013, which set in train the State’s increased emphasis on data sharing and the PSC expansion, had called for a review of the Personal Public Service Number (PPSN) and all the legislation surrounding same.
“As of October 2017 that review has never been started. It’s a missed opportunity.”
He conceded that the PSC issue is “not a one off – it has passed under the aegis of a number of different governments”, but said:
If one wishes to bring in a national ID card, you have to face up to the need to have a debate before bringing in the law. I wouldn’t agree with such an ID card. But if there’s a discussion at least I have the chance to win or lose that debate.
“When I hear that the department has issued three million cards that means, if I’m correct and the card is not in compliance with EU law, that we have a three million person contingent liability, because people have been told that they have to get the card,” he added.
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I absolutely can’t bear Windows 8, it’s useless unless you have a touchscreen monitor, just saying :)
I am surprised you got any red thumbs for that. I thought the general consensus was Windows 8 is awful. I certainly wont be upgrading anytime soon, and honestly, if a better OS comes around, i would love the opportunity to jump ship from Microsoft
I bought a laptop with Win8 and had to install Win7. I actually cried with frustration trying to use Win8.
Try installing Windows Shell and Skip Metro Suite – both free, your Windows 8 will basically skip the live tiles, go straight to the desktop and the Start button is restored.
Shite… it’s “Classic Shell”, sorry
Not sure I can switch back to Win8 now. But thanks anyway, Cpm.
There are already better OSs available, if you’re not tied to windows specific software, then both OSX and Linux are far better, more secure operating systems. If you want to use an existing pc, then opt for linux, one of the many flavours of Ubuntu is worth checking out, lubuntu works well on older equipment, you can dual boot so you don’t loose windows while checking out linux.
You’re a funny man, if they can’t switch from metro to windows desktop on windows 8, how on earth do you expect them to use Linux? Or worse still, Mac OS?
MS may have made some errors with the stupid charms on Windows 8, but it’s still far better and does more than any other OS, that’s the reason Windows is still no. 1.
Windows 3.1 was my first OS, IBM 386 at the tender age of 11! Remember being so excited installing a 33.6k modem in the next machine.. Contact!! Anyway, have to drop my anorak to the dry cleaners..
And upgrading from 4 meg of ram to 8 meg was orgasmic. Trying to find proper video/sound/network and modem drives was some craic! 1 meg download every 3 minutes :-)
Remember fiddling with IRQ jumpers? Jaysis.. We got one of those fancy black IBM Aptivas with the pop up media bay. Came with a DVD player…. But no decoder card!
Oh yeah.
I tried to connect to a VPN on a Windows 8 machine recently, having (mostly) used XP the past 12-13 years I nearly put my foot through the machine.
Hopefully the swift demise of Win8 in the short term and a better interface for those of us not using touchscreens.
You can download software on windows 8 machines that gives you the windows 7 interface, very handy and it a free as well.
The Windows 9 ui will be device dependent, basically if you use it on a desktop you’ll get a desktop interface, and a mobile ui on mobile devices
what’s the point of buying windows 8, then downloading software to make it seem like the earlier version?
You’re missing Windows NT and Windows 2000 Pro,
Windows 2000 Pro was pretty rock solid as far as Windows went, Windows ME never should have been released instead they should have worked on game comparability for Windows 2000 Pro and released that to the general public instead of business only.
Probably left out because they’re more for business, than personal, pc’s
Perhaps, but the article refers to what people used in school or work.
:)
Fair enough!
Maybe they’re working from home though!
NT 3.51 was a beast. Rock solid. As was NT 4.0.
As you would expect from the guy who wrote VMS and who MS stole from DEC to write NT :-)
The Commodore 64 back in the eighties, i well remember when we had to get in the queue for night classes.
Windows 8 = Mac 1.0
Macs are good. But in 30 yrs of technical publications work I’ve not once encountered a Apple product. Never, nay…
Gimme DOS any day. Id love a game of prince of persia now. Best game ever…
… And Lemmings, I used to love Chuck Yaeger’s flight simulator too.
Doom and wolf were more classics from that era.
Wolf = Castle Wolfenstein? If so, great game.
The very same. Dont make em like they used to
I’ll challenge anyone to a game of quake or doom!
What about Half-Life? Legend!
Doom was the first program that I can recall actually getting frightened playing.
F15 strike eagle II anyone?
Robocop,chuckie egg,rainbow island,batman and ikari warrior on the Amstrad 6128+.. great music! Must get it fixed and have a burn off em again…
Leisure Suit Larry :)
Eagles Nest on the Amstrad! Took forever to load though!!
Gorillas on dos 3.0 get your angles correct and hit that other gorilla brilliant.
Half life was deadly alan
harrier attack!!
So many rage moments with Windows ME. There was many a blue-screen-of-death to be had.
Fail to understand all the moaning in the comments……..just get a Mac. When you go Mac you will never go back! No viruses and they just work! ( just in case I get a reply that there are Mac viruses out there….OK …perhaps but I have never had any, nor know anyone who ever had one either , never seen any evidence ever ever). Windows users just wish there were…but they don’t exist
I primarily use Mac, but in my line of work I need to use Windows (and sometimes Linux), as do a lot of others I imagine! Not everyone can afford the Mac price-tag like yourself Dave!
When you get a mac you become a slave to the temple of Steve Jobs, start dressing like a hipster, wasting money on Starbucks slop as well as you suddenly wont mind paying well over the odds for Foxconn-made junk that will die just when the warranty expires.
Why would I buy a Mac, I want an computer not a Facebook machine for twice the price
Virus for macs are not so common because NO ONE uses Mac for anything important, it would be a total waste of time infecting a Mac, all you would gain…. Anyway enjoy you draconian DDRM and not actually owning your machine and software
There are so few viruses for macs because NO ONE uses them for important work, it is a complete waste of time developing virus for a facebook machine that you don’t actually own, you just paid for the right to used it and steals the rights to your photos and videos.
Enjoy you draconian DDRM and no games
There are so few viruses for macs because NO ONE uses them for important work, it is a complete waste of time developing virus for a facebook machine that you don’t actually own, (you just paid for the right to used it) and steals the rights to your photos and videos.
Enjoy you draconian DDRM and no games
Dave, only idiots and naive users get viruses these days! Doesn’t matter which OS you use.
Journal must be using Mac servers for verification purposes, ignore my duplicate posts please
“just get a Mac”
A Mac is fine if you’re looking for a toy for playing games and messing on facebook. Some of us are developers and want our software to function on more than just macs.
There’s a lot of developers who use Macs (myself included).
Build a Hackintosh :-D
No one user them for important work, most developers I know use mac, the others use Linux, only those forced would ever use windows, add to that film production, music, photography etc, etc, you clearly have never used a mac. Mind you it appears from your post that you regard “important work” as playing games!
I develop for iOS and android on a mac, in fact really the limit is you need a windows machine if you want to use microsofts tools for developing for windows. you have the roles reversed. Most developers I know find windows a pain to develop on. Linux or mac all the way.
Tomás is clearly using a PC. Clearly using a PC. Clearly using a PC…..
“There’s a lot of developers who use Macs (myself included).”
They’re called losers.
Could you elaborate a bit more on that Jack, please?
Sad pee cee addict! Microsoft have you addicted to inferior quality and virus ridden junk.
Dave, do you think there are fewer viruses for macs because of something Apple did to protect you? If so, you are sadly mistaken… and vulnerable.
I wrote my first (and last) virus as an MS DOS batch file. Must have been about 15 years ago.
If it was a batch file it was not a virus.
When I was 15 I used to sometimes walk into a store that was selling PCs and put several of them out on display. I’d change the autoexec.bat file so that when it booted up next it would format the harddrive. It eventually taught them to lock down their machines =D
I remember using the dos editor to blank .pwl files, log into store PCs then change the the screensaver to statements about how “I rock”. Simpler times
” I’d change the autoexec.bat file so that when it booted up next it would format the harddrive. ”
I didn’t think you could automatically confirm a y/n for something like that using ms dos.
Mine was along the same lines, except it installed automatically from a floppy disk, then four or five reboots later it deleted all of the exe files, renamed itself and the clean autoexec(old).bat file, then delete itself, leaving the non malicious file there. I created it because I was being sent abroad for a week, for work, and some smartass on work experience in the office started telling me, quite seriously, that he would take my job when I was gone. He was gone when I got back, not sure if it was my doing, or not.
Perhaps it isn’t a virus as you pointed out, malicious programme/file so.
Now you mention it, I might have used deltree rather than format. One way or another there was a switch that disabled the prompt. Was too long ago now.
Windows 8 is great, it runs very fast on laptops and is super compatible with everything, people can’t handle having to learn something new.. I found Windows 8 to be very user friendly, it took about 3 days to get used to the new interface…I suppose people out there want a modern looking windows xp?
A lot would argue they already had a win xp replacement in win 7.
Where’s Windows 98 Second Edition?!
Prior to Windows 2000 Pro, Windows 98SE was pretty good
Windows 95 was huge success by focusing on the end user. That was nearly 20 years ago. As response to recent editions has been luke-warm, what will the next 20 years bring us from MS?
Still takes 10 minutes to boot up, so no improvement there.
Been looking, The new pc’s have windows 8.1 pre-installed, the start button has been re-introduced. I’m on 7 at the moment, machine is on life support, so I’m just going to have to suck it up and move with the times.
@Susan – you can fields two free programmes that basically make your PC Win 7 again, the first is called Start Menu ( I think), and the second skips the tiles and goes straight to the Win 8 desktop, I can’t remember that one’s name though. They work a dream.
*Windows Shell, and Skip Metro Suite.
Surprised you couldn’t come up with a pun on your pen name Cpm …
?
I liked xp but have been using mac since 2006 and have not looked back
What about windows 2000? It came out at the same time as windows ME and was far superior, based on windows NT technology. Windows XP was not a successor to windows ME, it was a successor to windows 2000 because MS decided to abandon their extremely buggy stream that originated with windows 95 in favour of the one that originated with windows NT.
Is anyone still running CP/M or CP/M 86?
Used to need it to run WordStar, SuperCalc and dBaseII on an Apple II.
I think some CP/M machines are still running. Originated at JPL in Pasadena, IIRC.
Those were the days. I remember getting excited about 300baud modem speeds.
Don’t forget “Windows RG” windows really good edition. Link: http://windowsreallygoodedition.com note adobe flash required and use a full web browser for best experience!
Started out on dos and windows 3 also used gem for project planning software
That was last week wasn’t it? :P
Geoworks/PC-Geos is worth mentioning. It came pre-installed on top of msdos on Philips PCs here in the early 90s. As well as the Nokia 9000 Smartphone, HP omnigo proto tablet and an ATT tablet. Stable fast and tightly coded. With great vector graphics. Everything Windows 3 was not. Microsoft forced manufacturers to buy licences for every PC they produced. Whether their product was installed. Killing off any competition before it could get a foothold.
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