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Companies are selling data about people’s locations based on phone whereabouts, sparking fears for personal privacy and national security.
Concern was raised by senior Government officials after it was discovered that the phone can be tracked of anyone who enters high-security locations like prisons, military bases, Leinster House, plus some medical clinics and other health facilities. Data from a person’s phone can then be tracked to their home – prompting fears that their residential listing could be used to identify them.
Dr Cathal Berry, who is the military governor of the country’s highest security lock-up Portlaoise Prison, said: “There are nefarious actors out there who will take full advantage of this type of information. If people know where your home address is, then you’re at risk – particularly if you’re in quite an elevated position in the public service in the part of the State apparatus.”
The former Army Ranger Wing commander claimed the data sell-off posed “risks” for “specialised people in our armed forces, like particular pilots, bomb disposal operators, captains of ships”. He claimed the threat “feels wrong” and added: “If something feels wrong, it shouldn’t be legal.”
Dr Berry, who is a former independent TD, called on regulators and politicians to ensure Ireland has “the appropriate guardrails in place” to stop people’s data “being exploited”.
The Data Protection Commission responded to the findings by stating that it is “extremely concerned” and is trying to identify anyone who is selling the data. A spokesperson for the DPC said: “Information about an individual’s location can pose a serious risk to their security and well-being.
“We are currently working to identify the data broker in question and if they are headquartered in Ireland, we will take action ourselves. However, if they are headquartered in another EU country we will engage with the relevant data protection authority to deal with the matter.”
One person whose phone data was made available for sale was that of a parliamentary assistant of Dail TD Barry Ward in Leinster House. Deputy Ward said: “What has really shocked me is the extent to which you can take that data parcel, break it down to an individual, trace the individual’s movements to the extent that you can identify where they live, where they work, or where they go on a day-to-day basis.
“The notion that the information about their movements is free and available to buy for anyone is frightening, totally inappropriate, and definitely dangerous.”
Full details of the controversial privacy issue are due to be broadcast today by RTE’s Prime Time show. An undercover Prime Time team posed as data crunchers to obtain information about the minute-by-minute movements of 64,000 phones in Ireland over a fortnight in April.
The data provided to the team showed the phone owners’ movements throughout their day. The information was so specific that it not only showed the phone owner’s address, it also showed their movement within the home.
A company that is selling people’s personal data rejected privacy breach concerns and claimed that the owner of the phone is not identified. They added that the smartphone’s owner would have given permission in the terms and conditions of installed apps for the sale of the data, which is known as location or geo-spatial data.
Prime Time was given data of different phones that passed through sensitive national security locations such as Naval Headquarters on Haulbowline Island in Cork and out to sea, plus the Defence Forces’ Military Intelligence Service at McKee Barracks in Dublin.
A spokesperson for the Defence Forces said: “The safety and security of its personnel, locations, and operations are of paramount importance. The Defence Forces takes several proactive steps to ensure security is maintained in sensitive locations, including minimising electronic footprint in these areas.
“The Defence Forces ensures it is capable of tapering the electronic footprint of our personnel and operations depending on the nature of any operations we conduct.”
He added: “Our personnel are kept up to date on any potential risks that may face them and how to counter them.”
Tonight, Prime Time asks viewers: do you know what permissions you have agreed to on your smartphone? The full report is to air on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player from 9.35pm.
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