Fingal County Council has responded to my second request (See first here) as to why the authority is keeping secret the names of candidates and political parties who have been fined for failing to remove election posters in the recent local and European elections.
Dear Mr. Sheridan,
Further to your request to clarify this issue, I wish to advise that Fingal County Council has obligations under the Data Protection Acts 1998-2003 in relation to protecting the privacy of individuals.
Specifically unauthorised disclosure of personal data is prohibited. Section 2 of the Act (as amended) prohibits such disclosure.
I trust this information is helpful to you.
Kind regards,
I’m still puzzled as to how fines against public candidates and public political parties can be treated as a personal matter.
So does that apply to anyone guilty of an offence then? “No, I do not authorise you to tell anyone my name, ever, for any reason”.
Or who exactly told Fingal Co. Co. that the disclosure of that particular personal data is prohibited? I really hope you ask them.
“Specifically unauthorised disclosure of personal data is prohibited. Section 2 of the Act (as amended) prohibits such disclosure.”
Ask the Data Protection Commissioner if this is correct in relation the matters enquired of.