Data Protection Commissioner

The first initiative is a new educational resource on privacy and data protection for secondary schools in Ireland.  It was produced by the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner as a resource for schools to draw upon primarily in the Civic, Social and Political Education Course (CSPE) but also for integration as desired into other subjects.

The launch involved a class of second year CSPE students in the school and the Minister and the Commissioner took the opportunity to participate in one of the exercises from the new resource.  Minister Hanafin stated, “I am very pleased to launch this new educational resource for second level schools in privacy and data protection issues.  In this digital age, it is important that young people are aware of the advantages and risks of using technology, and the rights and responsibilities and the ethical issues which arise relating to the processing of personal data.

Many organisations hold information relating to our lives. It is important that this information is kept securely and used appropriately, only for the purposes intended, and that our rights are protected.  Internet, email, social networking sites such as BEBO and Facebook all provide opportunities where we need to be careful what personal information we provide, how it might be used or abused, and to always remember that we can’t be sure who is accessing this information.

 Knowledge and awareness are the best tools by which we can protect ourselves and take sensible precautions. This resource provides vital information on privacy and data protection for young people in today’s knowledge society.”

The visit to Newpark Comprehensive also provided an opportunity to launch an innovative video clip competition on the theme of ‘privacy in the 21st century’.  This on-line competition is being run on YouTube and is being targeted at young people.  It is open to both individual and group entries.  Entries to the competition can be posted on YouTube at www.youtube.com/privacycomp where more details of the competition and how to enter can be found.

The winning entry will attract a prize of €5,000 with runner up prizes of €3,000 & €2,000 respectively.

Speaking at the launch the Commissioner commented, “I am delighted that Minister Hanafin has set aside time in her busy diary to help launch the CSPE resource and our competition which we are running on YouTube, which demonstrates how serious these issues are for young people and Government.  These initiatives are central parts of our strategy to reach out and better communicate with younger people about their data protection rights and how to assert them.  Getting our message across to this age cohort presents particular challenges, so we are trying to reach them in the classroom and through the new media that they are increasingly using.”

Google acquired YouTube in 2006. Google’s European Headquarters is located in Dublin, where the company employs over 1500 people. Speaking in advance of the launch, John Herlihy, Vice President of Google, commented “we are delighted to see today’s launch of a video competition with Minister Hanafin and the Data Protection Commissioner. Privacy is an important issue for young people today and we are very hopeful that this competition will produce some imaginative and entertaining insights.”

It is hoped that the entries to the competition will provide further opportunities to communicate on data protection rights in ways that are more accessible to young people.  The Commissioner added, “ I am very much looking forward to viewing the entries to the competition to see the perspectives that young people bring to the data protection issues that we are all grappling with in our everyday lives”.