THE DATA Protection Commissioner has asked mobile phone companies to consider removing remote access to voicemail messages, in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal in Britain.
Deputy Commissioner Gary Davis confirmed his office had been in touch with the providers since the details emerged last week.
“Who does it serve to be able to access the messages left on your mobile phone?” he asked. Phone hacking, at its most basic, was an invasion of privacy, he added.
Messages left on a mobile phone may be accessed from any other phone by placing the digit “5” after the network code in a number and then keying in a pin number.
Mr Davis noted at least one mobile provider had measures to ensure customers changed the default code.
But he suggested remote access to messages was not a necessity, as most people usually keep their mobiles with them. “We are questioning the purpose of such access and asking them at this stage to consider removing it,” he said.
Commissioner’s office officials will meet two telecom companies next week to discuss far-reaching implications of new privacy regulations that came into force this month.
These rules also place a strong onus on telecom providers to warn users of a particular risk of a breach of security on their network.
Some data protection professionals believe this may include an obligation to inform customers that they must change default passwords to protect themselves.
Thousands of phone messages, including those of celebrities, politicians and sports stars, were accessed by journalists or others working for the now defunct News of the World.
Mr Davis said he was not suggesting that media in Ireland were engaged in such practices.
His comments came as News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch arranged to offer a full apology to people in Britain for the News of the Worldphone hacking.
The decision to publish a public apology came just hours after further turmoil in Mr Murdoch’s media empire, including a number of senior resignations yesterday.
Rebekah Brooks, the head of News International, the company’s UK subsidiary finally bowed to pressure and resigned. She was followed late last night by Les Hinton, chief executive of News Corp’s Dow Jones Co unit. He had occupied a leading role at the company when the alleged hacking scandals developed.