This is the statement from Irish Water taken from the Welfare.ie website about why and how they intend to use PPS numbers –
Updated: September 25th 2014
1. Does your organisation use the PPSN at present?
Yes, it is requested as part of our customer validation process since 1 September 2014
2. If so, for what purpose?
Irish Water will use the PPSN to validate eligibility for water allowances
3. Does your organisation exchange the PPS number with any other body? If so please name the relevant bodies and the purpose(s) of the exchange?
It is likely that the PPS Number will be shared with the Department of Social Protection for the purpose of validating PPS Numbers provided to us in respect of all water allowances. This arrangement has not been finalized at this time but we are engaging with the DSP.
4. Does your organisation have any other plans involving the use of the PPS number?
No
5. There are Eight Rules of Data Protection which govern the processing of personal data set out as follows: –
-Obtain and process the information fairly;
-Keep it only for one or more specified, explicit and lawful purposes;
-Process it only in ways compatible with the purposes for which it was given to you initially;
-Keep it safe and secure;
-Keep it accurate, complete and up-to-date;
-Ensure that it is adequate, relevant and not excessive;
-Retain it no longer than is necessary for the specified purpose or purposes;
-Give a copy of his/her personal data to an individual, on request.
Have you measures in place to ensure that the Public Service Identity data you hold /collect, whether held in electronic or written format is secure and that it is accessible and processed, only in connection with the purpose for which it has been provided?
Irish Water has implemented technical and procedural controls to protect customer data from unauthorised access, disclosure or modification and to comply with the principles of Data Protection legislation. In addition specific controls have been implemented in relation to the collection of the PPS Number to ensure it is accessible and processed, only in connection with the purpose for which it has been provided.
Specifically:
Obtain and process the information fairly;
Irish Water has obtained a limited amount of personal information under the powers granted to it in the Water Services Act 2013. The PPS Number information we require to manage water allowances will be provided directly to us by our customers and will only be processed in relation to water charges and allowances.
Keep it only for one or more specified, explicit and lawful purposes;
PPS Numbers will only be processed in relation to confirming eligibility for allowances and accurately calculating water charges.
Process it only in ways compatible with the purposes for which it was given to you initally;
PPS Numbers will only be processed in relation to confirming eligibility for allowances and accurately calculating water charges.
Keep it safe and secure;
Irish Water is working with ISO27001 and ISO9001 certified business partners to ensure PPS Numbers and other personal data of our customers is secured in line with best practice. Our staff receive information security and data protection training and sign an Acceptable Usage Policy for use of IT systems. Access to systems is granted on a strict “Need to know”, based on users roles within Irish Water. Irish Water has a formal Data Protection Policy, compliance to which is monitored by Risk Management, Information Security & Data Protection.
Keep it accurate, complete and up-to-date;
Customers will have several channels available to provide updates on their personal information. PPSN is not a field that will change for individuals, but we will have processes to remove details for children who are no longer eligible and for new additions.
Ensure that it is adequate, relevant and not excessive;
PPS Numbers are required to accurately apply tariffs and calculate charges. It will only be processed in relation to confirming eligibility for allowances and accurately calculating water charges.
Retain it no longer than is necessary for the specified purpose or purposes;
Irish Water is in the initial stages of gathering PPSN details from customers. Irish Water will remove individual PPSN details from our systems when the PPSN is no longer required to support a claim for a water allowance.
Give a copy of his/her personal data to an individual, on request;
Irish Water is part of the Ervia Group (formerly Bord Gáis Eireann) which has years of experience in managing data access requests. The Ervia data protection function is supporting Irish Water in ensuring it complies with legislation in dealing with access requests. The process for making data access requests is covered on our website.
Taken from Welfare.ie
