The new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) will come into force on 25th May 2018. It will repeal and replace the Irish Data Protection Act 1988 and the 1996 EU Data Protection Directive.
Where personal injury claims arise the new GDPR provisions will impact on CCTV footage, taking photographs, medical records, tracking devices in vehicles and other information that insurance companies receive concerning litigation claims.
Speaking about the importance of the new regulations for victims of work, road or public place accidents, Liam Moloney Solicitor said today “the importance of requesting copies of any CCTV footage which captures an accident within forty days of the accident itself cannot be overstated. If such a request is not made of a data controller within that time, then in many cases CCTV footage can be deleted lawfully”.
Mr Moloney added “incident/accident report forms should also be requested in a timely manner as they often contain vital information about witnesses to accidents and accounts that were given at the time of the accident itself. Data Protection law can be used in many personal injury actions to ensure that vital evidence that will help someone win a case is not destroyed”.
The new regulations will strengthen the rights of individuals who will now have a right to be forgotten after the data is no longer relevant to the original purpose for which it was obtained. They will also have the right not to be subjected to automated profiling.
The GDPR becomes law directly in all EU member states. The Irish Data Commissioner has advised that organisations should now immediately start preparing for the implementation of the regulations. The responsibility for this will fall on each organisation’s Data Controller.
