The Irish Computer Society Welcomes Data Protection Commissionerís Annual Report for 2007

Speaking after the launch, Jim Friars, Chief Executive Officer of the Irish Computer Society (ICS) said, ìWe are concerned, though not surprised, at the significant increase in complaint investigations opened by the Data Protection Commissionerís office last year. While organisations and individuals are becoming increasingly aware of their rights and responsibilities in this area, it is early days and we can expect many more significant and public breaches of the data protection legislation.î Mr. Friars stressed that Data Protection and Privacy is not just an IT issue. ìEvery business owner, manager, admin clerk, call centre staff member, public service employee, doctor, lawyer and accountant needs to understand that the right to privacy is a fundamental right, and that every organisation in Ireland has a duty to protect that right for both its customers and its employees,î explained Mr. Friars.

As a not-for-profit organisation with responsibility for promoting and supporting both the IT profession and general IT literacy, the ICS anticipates playing a significant role in helping the Data Protection Commissionerís office to educate individuals in this area. As noted by the Commissioner in his annual report, the ICS last year introduced Irelandís first Data Protection Certification Programme, which was met with tremendous success.

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Welcoming the Commissionerís continued support for the certification programme, Mr. Friars noted that the Data Protection Commissioner will be launching the ICS Privacy Forum, a new initiative to communicate best practice in this evolving field. Due to be launched in three weekís time, the Forum will be a networking and support resource for its members. The group will organise regular lectures and seminars to complement the wealth of information published on the Data Protection Officeís website.

ìAs well as our role in educating public and private sector professionals, we also have the opportunity to raise general awareness and understanding. Our training and certification body, ICS Skills, a registered charity, trains 40,000 people a year in the use of IT and the internet through the programme we co-founded in 1997, the European Computer Driving Licence,î said Mr. Friars, ìWe look forward to discussing with the Commissionerís office how we can leverage the unique position we hold within society to give the maximum number of citizens in Ireland access to fundamental data protection education.î