Inappropriate and unnecessary personal data of a member of the public was recorded on the Garda Pulse computer system, the Data Commissoner said today.
Responding to an access request from a member of the public, as to what data the Pulse system contained about her, Gardaí are understood to have deleted an "inappropriate" comment about the woman, supplying her only with the remaining data contained on the system.
Details of the incident are contained in Annual Report of the Data Commissioner for 2002, which was published today.
The woman approached the Data Commissioners, as she did not believe that certain details had been furnished to her. It emerged, following the Commissioner's investigation, that the "inappropriate" information had been deleted. Such information "should form no part of Garda records" the Commissioner has concluded.
The report contains details of a number of other investigations conducted by the Data Commissioner, Mr Joe Meade. Among the cases flagged were:
- A major retail bank was discovered to have disclosed data relating to other account holders to a customer. The Data Commissioner indicated that he was "far from impressed" with the unnamed bank's initial response to his query.
- Automated phone recorded messages delivered by a political party on the eve of the 2002 General Election were deemed direct marketing and, as such, should not have been delivered without prior consent.
- Names and addresses of participants in the Dublin Women's Mini-Marathon should not have been disclosed to a photographic company, who posted the details on the Internet.
The number of formal complaints concluded in 2002 was 295 as against 171 the previous year, the report said. Ninteen per cent of complaints were upheld, 37 per cent were not and 44 per cent of complaints to the Commissioner were resolved informally.