DUBLIN — Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said the Government will work with the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) to examine whether legislative changes are needed following revelations that Irish smartphone location data is being sold on the open market.
The move comes after an RTÉ Prime Time Investigates programme exposed how detailed movement data of Irish citizens can be purchased from data brokers operating in the digital advertising industry.
During the investigation, RTÉ journalists went undercover, posing as a new data analytics firm.
They obtained a sample dataset that contained the movements of 64,000 smartphones in Ireland over a two-week period earlier this year.
The dataset was so precise that it could be traced back to individual home addresses.
It also revealed movements in and out of highly sensitive locations, including military bases, prisons, and government offices.
Speaking in Co Waterford today, Taoiseach Micheál Martin described the revelations as deeply concerning.
“Basically, we do need to examine it because there are security implications,” he told reporters.
He highlighted particular risks around “the tracking of movement, particularly people who may be vulnerable and exposed on security grounds.”
Mr Martin said both the Government and the DPC would review the findings in detail and “look at all options” to address the issue.
He suggested one difficulty lay in how users give consent when downloading apps.
“When people are downloading apps, they do not always read the terms and conditions,” he said.
“People tend to bypass those because they want quick access, but that has consequences for their data privacy.”
The Taoiseach also linked the controversy to broader concerns over GDPR compliance and anonymous data collection.
“GDPR relates to this — there could be a legal issue in terms of the dividing line between anonymity and identifiable location information,” he said.
He added that data use is “one of the dominant drivers of economic activity” and must be managed carefully to balance opportunity with security.
Labour leader Ivana Bacik also weighed in on the revelations, describing them as “absolutely shocking.”
Ms Bacik called on the Government to clarify when the DPC first became aware of the issues highlighted by RTÉ.
“Few will be surprised by the fact that tech companies are engaging in this practice,” she said.
“However, many will be rightly outraged if the DPC was aware of this behaviour for years but failed to act.”
She pointed out that the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) had been seeking answers on this issue “for some time” but received no clear response.
The Labour leader expressed concern that highly sensitive movements — including those of senior political figures and their families — were being tracked and sold.
“Included in the data set are chilling examples showing movements to and from military bases, the Dáil, and even private residences,” she said.
“This constitutes a serious national security threat, and the DPC must explain how it intends to act.”
The controversy comes as Ireland grapples with broader debates on privacy, data protection, and the balance between consumer convenience and national security.
