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Privacy, a human right for the digital age – the legal practice and challenge of Data Protection

As Minister for Data Protection, I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak to you today. Go raibh míle maith agaibh le haghaidh an cuireadh agus tá fáilte roimh go léir.
To begin, let me thank Cormac Ó Culáin and the Law Society of Ireland for the invitation to speak here today.
The Law Society is to be commended for running this course. The course has been structured to allow for maximum flexibility in how its students interact, and the theme of the course ‘Privacy, a human right for the digital age’ is of relevance to every citizen in Ireland today.
It is two years since I was first appointed to this post with responsibility for data protection, and in that time, I have certainly seen an ever-increasing emphasis on the right to privacy and data protection in today’s world where technology has become so much a part of everything that we do.
During this period, the Court of Justice of the European Union has firmly and repeatedly asserted the central position of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, with the right to privacy and the right to the protection of personal data being core to a number of its decisions.
In addition, the General Data Protection Regulation will see a strengthening of data subjects’ rights, with additional obligations on data controllers and processors.
However, while the European Court upholds our rights under the Charter of Fundamental Rights, we live in a world where some seek to violate rights which are fundamental to our society.
And so we need to strike an appropriate and agreed balance between the needs of the individual and the needs of society.
And as a society, we need to have informed conservation's about these issues.
On the other hand, as users and consumers of services, we need to understand the importance of protecting our personal data.
We need to ask why we so casually trade our personal data for convenience in signing up to services.
We need to ask why we so readily share our personal data on line in a manner that we would not ordinarily contemplate in our off line lives.
And this is why I think that courses such as this are so important in raising important issues and contributing to these conversations.
They stimulate debate;
They pose difficult questions;
Digital Services
Privacy is also an issue for all of us as users of digital services.
A key finding from the Data Protection Eurobarometer survey published by the European Commission last June is that trust in the digital environment remains low.
More than 60% of the citizens surveyed do not trust online businesses.
Seven out of ten people surveyed are concerned about their information being used for a different purpose from the one it was collected for.
This highlights a key challenge we have. People want the conveniences and advantages that digital technology brings but will only engage if they can fully trust it.
Bridging this trust deficit is one of the goals of the EU Commission’s Digital Single Market initiative.
Government Data Forum
One thing that is clear is that there are no ready easy answers to these thorny issues.
The longer I have been in office as Minister, the more I see too that no one sector has all the answers to these questions.
To help us find the answers, we need to bring together experts across a number of sectors to examine these issues and stimulate debate.
It was with this in mind that my Department established the Government Data Forum last year which brings together experts from a range of sectors including industry, civil society, the legal field, sociology, psychology as well as the public sector.
I chair this Forum which has a wide remit, examining the many issues and challenges arising from the increasing digitisation of modern life and the associated significant increase in the amount of personal data generated.
The Forum has published its first piece of research, examining the data privacy and data protection concerns arising for citizens from the development of Smart Cities.
With Smart Cities, we see how technology is being used to help us run our cities more efficiently, while striving to improve the quality of life of those living in these cities.
The report identifies a range of concerns from a data privacy perspective, but as importantly, it makes some very practical recommendations to address these issues.
This is the type of work that I hope the Forum can continue to address, contributing to the debate across society on these important issues. Because it is only when we as a society begin to have conversations about these issues, that we can begin to think of ourselves as ‘digitally mature’.
Office of the Data Protection Commissioner
A strong credible regulator is key to allowing users and citizens enforce their data protection rights in this digital age.
The increases in budget that have been secured for the Data Protection Commissioner over the past two years have seen a cumulative 150% increase in the Commission’s budget since 2014, in addition to a 100% increase in the number of staff employed by the Commission in the past two years.
But as well as numbers alone, this increase in funding has allowed Helen Dixon, the Commissioner, to recruit the type of experts that her Office requires such as lawyers, technologists, investigators and a communications expert.
This investment will continue as we prepare for 25 May 2018, the date on which the Data Protection Regulation comes into effect, and when the Irish Data Protection Commissioner will take a lead role in enforcing the rights of EU citizens where complaints are made against multi-national companies who have their EU headquarters in Ireland.
We have also secured a new Dublin office for the Commissioner on Fitzwilliam Square. The office is being fitted out over the coming months, with the Commissioner’s staff moving later this year.
Conclusion
It is clear that the issue of privacy in the digital age is a complex one.
Along with strong regulation and strong regulators, part of the solution lies in creating greater understanding and awareness of the issues so that we as a society can discuss and debate these issues. I believe that courses such as this will contribute to our ability to do this, and I congratulate you all for your participation over the past number of weeks.
Thank you again for the opportunity to speak here today and I hope that you enjoy the rest of the panel discussion.