Data protection complaints rise in 2007

Charlie Taylor

Eircom, Sky, Aer Lingus and Tesco were among the organisations investigated by the Data Protection Commissioner last year as the number of complaints made by members of the public soared.

According to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner's annual report, which was published this morning, 1,037 new complaint investigations were initiated last year, up from 658 in 2006.

The Data Protection Commissioner Billy Hawkes attributed the substantial increase in cases to a rise in complaints in relation to unsolicited text (SMS) messages. A total of 390 complaints about unsolicited text messages were received in 2007, equivalent to 38 per cent of all complaints received.

In addition to actual formal complaints received and progressed, the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner dealt with about 20,000 telephone enquiries, over 4,000 e-mails and a smaller number of postal enquiries.

The report reveals that more than 350 prosecutions initiated by the DPC's office are currently before the courts.

At the launch of the annual report at the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in Dublin today, Mr Hawkes emphasised the responsibility of public and private sector organisations to respect the privacy of those who entrust them with their personal information.

"Unfortunately over the past year we have also seen abundant evidence of poor standards of protection of customers’ personal information in the private sector," the commissioner said.

The report reveals there were a large number of complaints received in relation to the marketing practices of Sky, while Tesco also came under investigation after it sent unsolicited e-mails to customers.

During 2007, the Data Protection Commissioner also received complaints from employees of Aer Lingus regarding disclosure of information and complaints were also made from Ryanair customers who found it difficult to unsubscribe from its marketing database.

Separately, Eircom donated €35,000 to charity after a number of complaints were made concerning unwanted marketing telephone calls.

Earlier in the day, the Data Protection Commissioner, who is also charged with investigating data security breaches, admitted that well-known Irish blogger Damien Mulley had been able to access the annual report prior to its publication via the Office’s website.

Speaking on Morning Ireland RTÉ’s Morning Ireland , Mr Hawkes described it as a "wonderful illustration" of how all organisations can be the victim of security breaches.