Research and data protection

Sir, – I wonder how upset letter-writers to The Irish Times would be if I obtained their full home address, telephone numbers, date of birth, photograph, place of birth and mother's maiden name and sold it to anyone who would pay for it, no questions asked?

It is becoming increasingly easy for this type of personal information to be obtained as more and more sets of personal data are made available online. The availability of such data sets and their use with other sources for purposes that were never originally intended are very powerful tools for tracing living individuals, both for legitimate and illegitimate purposes.

Much of the controversy about publication of electoral registers seems to be coming from professional genealogists who provide for-profit services tracing living individuals whether or not they want to be found.

While publication of electoral registers may make it easier to track down the beneficiary of a will or a reluctant debtor, the same tools can also equally used by criminals for impersonation and fraud.

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The data protection commissioner is right to object to the publication of recent electoral registers. Members of the public should understand her concerns and respect her decision to intervene. – Yours, etc,

FRED LOGUE,

Dublin 7.