The Data Protection Commissioner has announced a clampdown on politicians who fail to register personal records held electronically on their constituents.
Publishing his annual report for 2003 yesterday, Mr Joe Meade said only 108 politicians and political parties had declared "sensitive personal data" in accordance with legal requirements.
While he said he hoped no politician was breaking the law, the figure "seems on the small side" with 226 TDs and Senators and 1,627 councillors in the State.
A similar clampdown on the legal profession last year saw a jump in the number of lawyers registering with the Commissioner's office from 93 to 445.
Two law firms were also prosecuted for failing to register.
Mr Meade said that while these were the first prosecutions taken by his office since it was established in 1989 "further prosecutions will, if necessary, be taken" against anyone breaching the Data Protection Acts.
He said he had identified politicians, religious orders and dentists for particular scrutiny this year as their level of registration was not as high as other professions. Failure to register an electronic data base containing sensitive personal information on third parties is punishable by a €3,000 fine in the District Court, or €100,000 plus erasure of the data base on indictment.
On crime and security, Mr Meade said responses should be "proportionate" to ensure the right to privacy was not diminished.
In that context, he said he had suspended judicial review proceedings begun last year against the Minister for Justice on the retention of communications traffic data, pending the enactment of promised legislation in the area. However, if the legislation was not forthcoming before the end of the year, "proceedings will be reactivated".
On Garda vetting, the Commissioner said the Acts allowed for security checks in sensitive employment areas such as child-care. But, he said, it would be disproportionate to use screening in all employment sectors "as a form of State-endorsed character reference".
He also warned against the use of biometric data for marketing or commercial purposes, saying the central storage of such information should not be necessary except in very limited circumstances. The report showed the number of new complaints made to the Commissioner increased by 37 per cent last year to 258. Of 199 formal complaints concluded, 20 per cent were upheld, 18 per cent were rejected and 62 per cent were resolved informally.
Among those against whom complaints were upheld were Precision Marketing Information Ltd which marketed "in error" a credit card at minors, including a 10-year-old girl; a head-hunting firm which disclosed - also "in error" - details about a client seeking to move jobs to the client's then employer; and the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources which "illegitimately" published on its website personal details of people who had made Freedom of Information requests.
The Commissioner also audited two bodies last year - Beaumont Hospital and Eircom - and a further company this year: Ticketmaster. No irregularities were found.
The Commissioner added the running costs of his office increased by 48 per cent to €1.2 million last year, mainly due to its move to new accommodation in Dublin, and increased enforcement activity.
The office is now to relocate to Portarlington, Co Laois, under the Government's decentralisation plan.
