‘We Can Also Collect Data In Relation To The Sexual Orientation Of Our Customers’

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Paschal Donohoe, then Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, launches the Public Services Card (PSC) in 2016

Augmented identity.

It’s all the rage.

Elaine Edwards, in The Irish Times, reports:

“…Details of the new contract, published on the eTenders website on Thursday, reveal the €9.41 million contract for the cards was awarded to DLRS Ltd, a company owned by Smurfit Kappa and Idemia, formerly known as Morpho.

The consortium is trading as Security Card Concepts was called Biometric Card Services Ltd a month ago.

“Idemia, the Dutch company, says it offers services including “augmented identity” products that rely on “the most physical, natural and authentic verification: the body’s own biometric data”.

While the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection has previously insisted it does not process biometric data, its new privacy policy, admits that “at times” the data it may collect includes:

“data concerning health and biometric data used for the purpose of identification and at times, information concerning trade union membership. We acknowledge that we can also collect, indirectly, data in relation to the religious beliefs and sexual orientation of our customers.”

‘Augmented identity’ firm gets €9m contract for public services cards (Elaine Edwards, The Irish Times)

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27 thoughts on “‘We Can Also Collect Data In Relation To The Sexual Orientation Of Our Customers’

  1. Clampers Outside!

    Augmented….?
    Is that like where ones’ passive religious beliefs are seen as fundamentalist on file? Or maybe ones’ penis, boobs or whatever will be bigger on file than they are in reality, is that it? :)

        1. Boj

          Jeffrey may be incorrect in his statement that THIS is a waste of money, but he’s not far from the mark in relation to general wastes of money by all governments. My thinking is that they don’t ‘earn’ that money they so easily spend, they don’t respect it. And for that reason I feel that Jeffrey is entitled to vent some frustration at “Bananaland” – even if he is incorrect in this particular case. Also, I’ll do it for 35 quid…can’t have Papi getting the contract again.

          1. Cian

            This is probably true of anyone that spends money they don’t earn – government, private companies, stay-at-home husbands[1], welfare recipients, lotto winners.

            Now you have identified a problem – how do you fix it?

            This article says that this particular piece of work went on to the e-tender website – which was created to ensure that all government spending was done in an open and transparent way. Each tender says what is needed, what the minimum requirements are, and how the responses will be marked. Most have a heavy weighting toward cheapest wins. We have moved on from the days of a civil servant offering a job to her brother and hugely overcharging for the service.

            [1] or stay-at-home wives

          2. Otis Blue

            Cian, your faith in the objectivity and integrity of e-tenders and public procurement in general is oddly quaint.

          3. Papi

            Thirty two and a choc ice, but the photos will be doodles, quite similar to the avatars here (i.e stolen from here)

          4. Cian

            Cian, your faith in the objectivity and integrity of e-tenders and public procurement in general is oddly quaint.
            Are you saying it isn’t?
            I’m saying it’s a lot better than nothing. And I’m not sure if you could implement anything better…

          5. Otis Blue

            Better than nothing for sure. But your point was that it was developed to ensure public spending was transparent. The theory is fine but the practice less so. Irrespective of the conditions and criteria set for public tenders it is still subject to the biases and preferences of the buyer.

  2. Starina

    I haven’t got one of these yet and have never needed to use one. What are they for??

    1. paul

      replacement for PPS card with picture and chip for identification. Mostly for social welfare stuff but it’s a stand-in for Government ID as well.

  3. George

    This company doesn’t know who its customers are. They supply a service to the state, the state is the customer. The public who are service users are not customers of this company.

  4. Ron

    What right do they have to information regarding my membership of a trade union, my sexual orientation or religious beliefs?

    1. Ting-Tong

      are you swinging both ways ron? no shame in that but keep it tidy no swimming without a hat

        1. Ting-Tong

          well I never! I was not expecting that type of reply by a long shot
          the embarrasser has become the embarrassee

    2. Cian

      If you go to Welfare looking for Jobseekers/Disability/pension benefit – they collect information on your current ‘means’; if you pay union dues these are *excluded* in the calculations. So if that number is filled, then they know you are in a union.

      I dunno about the other two, but assume there is something similar – if you tell them your/your kids school – it may indicate religion.
      And they can tell you’re gay from handwriting analysis – e.g. if there are little hearts instead of dots over the i

        1. Ting-Tong

          true words ron
          my most funny (to me anyway) thoughts and reasonings come upon me in the early hours too
          have a great day :)

  5. Giggidygoo

    The usual attempt to conceal true intentions. The dropping of the word Biometric in the trading name tells its own story. The ‘at times’ a similar story.
    The sooner we are rid of these FGers the better.

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