Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 23 March 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

General Scheme of Electoral Reform Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed)

Mr. Dale Sunderland:

That is a good question. This relates to how the legislation is drafted. If the legislation provides for a person's name to be published in terms of who is advertising online, the Bill will provide for that. It is a bit different from a core data protection issue where we are talking about the processing of personal data. In the context of online advertisements, and the Bill touches on this, it comes up in the context of how people are presented with advertisements and who is presented with advertisements. That comes from how their data are processed in the background for personalisation and other purposes. It does not strike us that there is a problem with the Bill from a data protection perspective in that context but, again, we are just looking at the heads. The onus is on the Department to have considered whether and to what extent personal data are being processed in that context and whether there is any risk involved. Again, it is about the process and making sure the right balance is struck. As the Deputy noted, it is already done in an offline context so if the legislator decides to provide for that in an online context, having done the proper assessments and analysis and having decided it is justified, that is what data protection is about. It is working through the process and making sure any risks are properly identified and addressed.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.