FOR SEVERAL YEARS, while an application for planning permission is under consideration, "sensitive personal and financial information, such as bank statements, social welfare information and pay slips submitted by individuals seeking planning permission, have been put online by local authorities." Anyone could see that information, including merchants who later used the data for direct marketing of their services. I have seen scans of credit card bills and pay slips when looking at planning applications submitted by neighbours. The scans are normally made into PDFs. It is relatively easy to lock those PDFs behind passwords but I don't think there's a specific requirement to safeguard the information in that way.
Olivia Kelly -- "Personal data put online by councils" in Thhe Irish Times, 22 February 2008.
