News Archive

Data Protection Day - 28 January 2015

To mark Data Protection Day on Wednesday 28th January 2015 the College’s Information Compliance Office teamed up with the Science Gallery and IS Services to find out "What Does the Internet Say about You?"

Click here to view a video podcast of the Data Protection Day panel discussion, "What Does the Internet Say about You?"

The QR code – What was it all about?

Did you notice a giant QR code being projected onto the Nassau Street entrance of Trinity College Dublin on the evening of Tuesday 27th January?

The QR code was displayed around campus and projected onto the Nassau Street entrance of the College as part of the schedule of events to mark Data Protection Day 28th January 2015 on campus, and formed part of the discussion on the College’s theme for the day: Online Privacy – What Does the Internet Say about You?

No explanation of what the QR code related to was posted and when, out of curiosity, participants scanned the QR code they were led to a series of pages requesting different types of personal data. The exercise was designed to measure how much information people were willing to give out without knowing where it is going or what it will be used for. The personal data entered was not collected, however it was possible to deduce from the number of screens the individual accessed how much information they are willing to volunteer.

The results of the QR code were surprising!

Over 100 people scanned the code and were asked a sequence of questions requesting personal data ranging from name, gender, email address to more sensitive data such as their date of birth, occupation and credit card details.

Without any idea of what their information would be used for or where it was going, 90% of participants volunteered their name and gender while a shocking 27% of participants answered the request for details of medical conditions and their credit card number.  

While this exercise was for demonstrative purposes only with a view to raising awareness regarding placing personal data online, it could easily have had a more sinister agenda. The moral of the story - Think before you click!

The Information Compliance Office would like to thank participants who took part in the demonstration and reassure them that no personal data they entered was captured or stored. For further information on this demonstration or any Data Protection issue please contact information.compliance@tcd.ie.

Panel Discussion - What Does the Internet Say about You?

As part of the schedule of Data Protection Day events organised by the Information Compliance Office, IS Services and Science Gallery Dublin, a panel discussion was held on the topic "What Does the Internet Say about You?" The event was held in the Synge lecture theatre and it was very well attended.

Newstalk's Jessica Kelly hosted the discussion, during which Ireland’s leading voices on data protection discussed important issues in Online Privacy, while audience members were invited to put their questions to the panel via a Twitter hashtag. The guest speakers were as follows:

  • Sinead McSweeney, Director of Public Policy, Twitter.
  • Dr. Eoin O’Dell, School of Law, Trinity College Dublin
  • Jeanne Kelly, Partner, Mason Hayes & Curran Solicitors
  • Conor Flynn, ISAS Ltd.

Please click here to view a video podcast of the Data Protection Day panel discussion, "What Does the Internet Say about You?"