The Legal Aid Board (Register of Users)

Does the Board use the PPS Number at present?

The Legal Aid Board records the PPS number, if available, as part of the registration process. There may be applicants for legal aid such as asylum seekers, victims of trafficking, child abduction plaintiffs and foreign maintenance creditors who will not have PPS numbers.

For what purposes?

The Board performs a means test on each applicant for legal services. Cases are randomly selected for means test checks. These checks are performed by the Department of Social Protection for the Board and the PPS number is used when sending the details to Social Welfare Inspectors.

In 1997, the Board wished to use the RSI number as their reference number, but the Data Protection Commissioner advised that although they could record the number they could not use it as their reference number as it had no legal standing at that time.

Does the board exchange the PPS Number with any external body? If so, please name the relevant bodies and state the purpose(s) of the exchange

The only exchange of the number is with the Department of Social Protection as outlined above.

What future plans has the Board for the use of the PPS Number.?

The Board has no other plans at present for use of the number.

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?

YES. Note however that the Board is currently in the process of reviewing its entire data protection processes in anticipation of GDPR and it is possible that further data protection controls may be in place by 25 May 2018. Any change to our data protection policies will be communicated to you upon implementation.