Hundreds of private telephone records are being examined by the Garda Síochána every month, the Data Protection Commissioner said yesterday.
Under national legislation, fixed and mobile telephone companies are required to keep records for three years, which must be made available to the Garda on request.
However, the legislation should be tightened up so that telephone records are made available to gardaí only during the investigation of serious crime, said the commissioner.
Gardaí currently are entitled to get access to the records during inquiries about any crime, regardless of its seriousness, said the commissioner, Billy Hawkes, who published his annual report yesterday.
An initial request for the records of one individual suspected of criminality can frequently provoke requests for the records of every individual listed on the suspect's file, he added.
"Just make sure that you don't ring the number of a major criminal by mistake, or you could find that your records are listed," he told journalists yesterday, though he emphasised that there is no evidence that the gardaí were improperly using their powers.
The inspection of a citizen's telephone records should not be the "first option, or a routine option" for the Garda.
Under proposed EU legislation, which is being opposed by Minister for Justice Michael McDowell, telephone records would have to be stored for between six months and two years in all EU member states, but they would be made available to police only during serious crime investigations.
Privacy is becoming an increasingly important issue for the public, declared Mr Hawkes, who investigated nearly 400 complaints last year.
Aggressive and repeated "cold calling" by companies to people in their homes was "one of the greatest sources of complaint". He said a system operated by ComReg allowing the public to opt out from receiving such calls was "not yet working satisfactorily" though he hoped it would be sorted out during the course of the year.
The independent financial regulator's decision to ban "cold calling" by financial service companies was welcome, said Mr Hawkes, who added the case for extending such a blanket ban to other sectors was justified by the level of abuse taking place.
One company, Blueridge Telecom Systems, trading as Optic Communications, ceased its operations in the State after joint action by ComReg and the commissioner.
The company had been guilty of "persistent, aggressive and at times abusive" calls to the public - including, bizarrely, to the office of the Data Protection Commissioner itself.
Meanwhile, "4's A Fortune" Ltd was prosecuted by the commissioner for contacting members of the public without their consent.
In all cases, the company's staff rang mobile numbers, and immediately hung up. If the person contacted rang back the "missed call" they heard a pre-recorded message in which callers were invited to phone a premium rate number in order to claim €50 credit for use in "4's A Fortune" games.
The company pleaded guilty last July to five offences and was convicted in September and fined €300 for each count, along with €1,000 in costs. "I am satisfied that this case has sent a positive signal to marketers that I will not be reluctant to prosecute those who fail to respect the privacy rights of others," he declared.
Supporting the Minister for Justice's plans for new defamation and privacy laws, Mr Hawkes said he had acted on three complaints last year against media organisations.
In particular, editors should "demonstrate the existence of an exceptional public interest" before they publish any information about under-16s.
