Latest news with #IrishCouncilforCivilLiberties
Irish Examiner
26-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Council for civil liberties brings High Court action against Microsoft over alleged data breaches
A High Court judge has allowed the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) to initiate a class action-style case against Microsoft over alleged data breaches impacting a significant number of Irish consumers. The ICCL claims Microsoft Ireland Operations Ltd is infringing GDPR rules and the related Data Protection Act 2018 by processing personal data within its real-time bidding system for online advertising. On Monday, James Doherty, counsel for the ICCL and appearing with Sean O'Sullivan, brought an application seeking the court's approval in deeming the proceedings a representative action. A representative action can be brought on behalf of a group of consumers by an organisation that has been recognised as a qualified entity, under the Protection of the Collective Interests of Consumers Act 2023. The ICCL is one of two recognised qualified entities. In court documents, ICCL said it sought to bring the proceedings on behalf of all consumers in the State whose personal data rights are being allegedly infringed by Microsoft's processing. Noting that the ICCL's application appeared to be the first of its kind to come before the Irish courts, Mr Justice Barry O'Donnell said he was satisfied to deem the ICCL's intended proceedings as a representative action. He stressed the order was being granted with only the ICCL side represented, and said Microsoft would have an opportunity to seek to set aside the order if it wishes. The judge also granted permission to the ICCL to serve plenary summons on Microsoft. The ICCL is seeking injunctive reliefs from the court, including orders restraining Microsoft from processing certain identified categories of personal data. The ICCL's primary concerns, according to court documents, arise from Microsoft's alleged collection and processing of personal data for 'the purpose of provision of targeted advertising'. The ICCL raises concern about Microsoft's alleged 'broadcast' of 'profiles' of individual data subjects to 'large numbers' of prospective advertisers who use Microsoft's real-time bidding advertising system. The ICCL claims this raises questions as to whether individual data subjects are consenting to a 'wide and unsecured broadcast of their personal data', or if they are aware of 'the breadth of the processing of their personal data undertaken by Microsoft'. The ICCL claims that users of various Microsoft products and services, including Windows, Xbox, web-based Office, Edge web browser, and websites and apps that use Microsoft's Xandr advertising technology, are affected by the alleged data breaches.
RTÉ News
25-05-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
ICCL to take case against Microsoft over advertising system
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) said it will apply to the High Court today to launch a class action lawsuit against Microsoft over its "real-time bidding" (RTB) advertising system. RTB is the process of auctioning advertising space as people browse online. The ICCL said the system involves broadcasting private information about internet users and has described it as a breach of users' data privacy. The council said that Microsoft's RTB system operates behind the scenes on websites and apps to match advertising to specific people. The ICCL said it is taking the legal action on behalf of all affected people in Ireland under the new EU Collective Redress Directive. Dr Johnny Ryan, Director of ICCL's Enforce unit, is leading the case. "People's intimate secrets such as their relationship, work and financial status are broadcast by Microsoft into the real-time bidding advertising system," Dr Ryan said. "That system is a black hole of data open to any malicious actor and represents a huge data breach of millions of people's information," he added. A Microsoft spokesperson said the company intends to respond to the ICCL filing through the appropriate legal channels.
BreakingNews.ie
06-05-2025
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Cabinet set to approve ban on face coverings at protests
The Cabinet is set to approve new legislation that will allow a garda to request someone wearing a face covering to remove it in certain circumstances. If the request is met by a refusal, the individual would be committing a criminal offence and could be arrested and prosecuted. Advertisement The move would be a slight change to current laws in a situation where officers suspect masks are being worn to prevent identification in a potential offence. It would also allow gardaí to seize the masks or coverings. The proposed legislation is being brought to Cabinet for approval on Tuesday by Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan. It was initially designed to tackle far-right protesters but will extend much further and gives gardaí a wide-ranging power based on their judgment. Ireland Businesses left frustrated as immigration protesto... Read More However, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties said it was 'deeply concerned by the Government's plan to criminalise the wearing of face coverings'. It said people may want to wear face coverings for medical or religious reasons or to protect their privacy. Advertisement The new power could also be applied to street crime, especially that being witnessed in Dublin. Garda sources told The Irish Times that many of those crimes – including road traffic offences on scooters and motorbikes, as well as assaults and thefts – are perpetrated by young offenders wearing face coverings. If approved by Cabinet, the general scheme of the legislation will be published followed by a pre-legislative scrutiny process. It is envisaged the legislation could be enacted as early as October.
Irish Times
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Ireland to follow new UK law with ban on face coverings at protests
Ireland will follow the lead of the UK and ban face masks, or coverings, being worn in public places on the basis that a garda suspects it is being used for criminal intent, or being used in an intimidatory fashion. Clause 86 of the UK's Crime and Policing Bill – currently before parliament – will make it a criminal offence for a person to conceal their identity at a protest. A similar measure has been considered here. In August 2024, then minister for justice Helen McEntee said she intended to draft legislation for a similar ban in Ireland. That followed a series of violent protests in Dublin, including the previous November's riot on, and around, O'Connell Street. READ MORE Now, her successor, Jim O'Callaghan seems to be making good on that particular political pledge. As Conor Lally and Jack Horgan-Jones report, the new legislation will allow a garda to request a person wearing a face covering to remove it in certain circumstances. If the request is met by a refusal, the individual will be committing a criminal offence and can be arrested and prosecuted. The proposed legislation, they write, is designed to tackle far-right protesters but will extend much further and gives gardaí a wide-ranging powers . It is the latest in a raft of 'law and order' legislation being promoted by the Minister for Justice in response to the public perception that the streets of the capital are unsafe. It also sets him on a collision course again with civil liberties organisations, which say such a measure will further erode personal freedoms such as the expression of opinion in public places. The Irish Council for Civil Liberties says it is the latest such measure which has the potential to be intrusive of personal rights, following Garda body-worn cameras and plans for the increasing use of facial recognition technology. Israel begins fresh campaign Israel yesterday announced it was expanding its military campaign in Gaza and forcing the entire population to move south and that it intends to hold on to all the territory it has seized in the move. Gaza has a population of over 2.15 million. That's the equivalent of Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow. It's like forcing everybody – every single human being – who lives in our capital city and its hinterland to move to a cordoned-off area on the coast in north Dublin, without homes or shelter, without access to aid, and still be subject to indiscriminate bombing and death. The blockade of Gaza by Isreal has now gone on for two months, with no humanitarian supplies being allowed in. Now Israel has ordered all aid agencies to shut down their distribution of what remains of aid in the strip. The Irish Government is, unfortunately, in a minority of countries that has not turned a blind eye to the utter contempt shown by Israel for those living in Gaza. As Marie O'Halloran reports, Tánaiste Simon Harris said on Monday that Israel's plan to seize all of Gaza was 'despicable and unconscionable'. Anybody who has seen Louis Theroux's sobering documentary on right-wing Israeli settlers will have at least some suspicion that the overall plan of their government is to remove residents of Gaza to third countries. It is beyond horror. As was the case during the pandemic, Dr Mike Ryan of the World Health Organisation captured the views of many Irish people when describing Israeli actions in Gaza as an 'abomination'. 'We are watching this unfold before our very eyes and we're not doing anything about it. As a physician, I'm angry. I'm angry with myself that I'm not doing enough. 'This is an abomination. It's an abomination. We have to ask ourselves the question, how much blood is enough to satisfy whatever the political objectives are of any regime,' he said. Uisce Éireann's €1bn 'budget boost' Jack Horgan-Jones writes a really interesting report this morning on how an additional €1 billion from the sale of AIB shares, allotted to Uisce Éireann for ring-fenced infrastructural spending, ended up being used by the utility for, essentially, existing spending. As Jack writes, the utility's chairman Jerry Grant told then minister for housing Darragh O'Brien that the €1 billion would have to be used to avoid increased borrowing by Uisce Éireann. 'He also told the then Government that the utility would have to use some of the money immediately to fill a €300 million funding hole in its budget allocation for 2025.' In short the chairman said the money would provide no extra financial firepower in the coming years. Best Reads Fintan O'Toole links Kneecap and Boris Johnson in an excellent column. Former Green Party leader Eamon Ryan says the first job of the next Pope should be to deliver the world from Climate Apathy . Playbook There is no Dáil or Seanad today but there is a Cabinet meeting. Besides the proposed face-mask legislation, another big item on the agenda is a memo from Tánaiste Simon Harris to expedite ratification of the trade deal between European and Canada, known as Ceta. Jack Horgan-Jones and Martin Wall report on the agenda of the meeting. It was shelved in 2022 after a successful legal challenge from then Green Party TD Patrick Costello , with the Supreme Court which found the government's approach was unconstitutional and forcing the previous Coalition to pause its plan to ratify the deal. Among the other items being discussed are the outcome of the National Economic and Social Council report on compact growth, which has strong recommendations on brownfield sites, and more cost rental homes. A report from Minister of State for Mental Health Mary Butler is also expected to be discussed, which points to a lower number of suicides in Irish society during 20203. The other big event today is the Global Irish Summit in Dublin Castle, which involves Government ministers and senior Irish diplomats from around the world. Martin Wall has a full report . Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Simon Harris and several Ministers will address the Summit with a message that the Republic must continue to retain its values at a time of significant change internationally. Sign up for Politics push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up for the Inside Politics newsletter to get our politics team's take direct to your inbox.
Irish Times
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
New face masks law based on whether a garda ‘reasonably suspects' criminal intent
Anyone wearing a face mask, or any face covering, can be told to remove it once a garda 'reasonably suspects' its use is intimidatory or intended to make it easier to commit a crime and avoid detection. If the request is met by a refusal, the individual will be committing a criminal offence and can be arrested and prosecuted. The proposed legislation is being brought to Cabinet for approval today by Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan. It is initially designed to tackle far-right protesters but will extend much further and gives gardaí a wide-ranging power based on their judgment. However, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties said it is 'deeply concerned by the Government's plan to criminalise the wearing of face coverings'. It said people may want to wear face coverings for medical or religious reasons or to protect their privacy. READ MORE It said it was concerned the new face mask measures, when added to Garda body-worn cameras and plans for gardaí to use facial recognition technology, would create a 'chilling effect' around the expression of opinion in public spaces. The legislation is expected to be enacted in the autumn, which would allow for its bedding in before the State assumes the six-month presidency of the European Union next July, and which gardaí believe could be targeted by protesters from the far right and extreme left. Mr O'Callaghan wants to ensure the new measure will result in a consistent policing approach in tackling all forms of violent protest and all offenders. However, the legislation does not infringe on the right to protest or to gather in public places. Sources said the Minister believed the changes – which will amend the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 – will be cost-neutral, will deter the wearing of face coverings and will also make investigations faster and less complex. Gardaí believe it will aid them in gathering intelligence on a small number of protesters who seek to abuse the right to protest by having the power to engage with them and record their identifies and other details, if they wear masks in specific settings. Garda Commissioner Drew Harris last June first mooted the idea of tackling the wearing of face coverings in public, asking the government to review whether legislative changes could be made to give gardaí additional powers. He raised it in the context of far-right protests by masked people outside politicians' homes, specifically Tánaiste Simon Harris, then taoiseach, and other far-right incidents during the local election campaign last summer. However, since then, the number of far-right protests and other incidents has declined. Gardaí have, at least in part, attributed that drop off in activity to the arrest of far-right activists for public order crimes. 100 days of Government and very little to show Listen | 40:27 Protests associated with Israel's bombing of Gaza are now much more frequent than far-right gatherings. In a small number of cases, anti-Israel events have resulted in arrests. The legislation being brought before Cabinet today can apply to any situation in a public place, including any form of protest, but only where intimidation or intended criminality is suspected. A garda can form the view that a face covering is being worn to intimidate others or to conceal the wearer's identity to facilitate in the commission of a crime or hinder an investigation and prosecution. They can ask for the covering to be removed and, if it is not, begin a prosecution process. The new power can be applied to street crime, especially that being witnessed in Dublin. Garda sources said many of those crimes – including road traffic offences on scooters and motorbikes, as well as assaults and thefts – are perpetrated by young offenders wearing face coverings. The new amendment is part of the General Scheme of Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025, and will amend the existing public order legislation when enacted. Under the same legislation going to Cabinet, those offering or advertising 'sex for rent' arrangements will face fines of up to €5,000. The Bill creates two separate offences – one for offering and the other for advertising – with no requirement to prove that sexual activity took place. It is expected to apply to rental agreements and 'rent a room' situations. If approved by Cabinet, the general scheme of the legislation much be published followed by a pre-legislative scrutiny process. It is envisaged the legislation could be enacted as early as October.
