The Data Protection Commission (DPC) has confirmed it is in ongoing discussions with Sky regarding the company’s attempts to combat the use of so-called TV ‘dodgy boxes’, reports RTE.
These devices allow users to illegally stream television content, including sports and movies.
The DPC’s engagement with Sky focuses on how the company uses personal data to target illegal streaming practices, reports RTE.
“There are legitimate reasons why companies might decide that they want to take action against fraud,” said DPC Chairperson Dr Des Hogan, reports RTE.
“However, the use of personal data would be the question for us, and whether that’s been done in an appropriate, ethical manner.
“We have been in engaging with Sky for some time, and we’re going to be meeting them in two weeks time, and I expect that we’ll be bringing things forward with them at that point in time,” reports RTE.
“Any sharing of personal data, or processing of that personal data outside a company has to be done in a lawful manner under the GDPR,” Dr Hogan said, reports RTE.
There was a rise in the number of data breaches reported to the DPC in 2024.
Its annual report shows the DPC received 7,781 valid breach notifications, marking an 11% increase from 2023, reports RTE.
Half of these cases involved sending correspondence to the wrong recipient.
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As in previous years, government departments and banks made up the top ten organisations with the most reported breaches, reports RTE.
Insurance providers and telecom operators were also high on the list, featuring among the top 20.
During 2024, the DPC concluded 11 formal investigations, resulting in administrative fines totalling €652 million.
Key cases included a €310 million penalty issued to LinkedIn, and combined fines of €251 million imposed on Meta, reports RTE.
Since GDPR came into force in May 2018, the Commission has issued over €4 billion in fines against large tech companies.
To date, only €20 million of those fines have been paid, with the majority currently under appeal.
In the past year, the DPC opened 11,091 new individual cases and resolved 10,510, reports RTE.
So far in 2025, the Commission has recorded a 17% rise in complaints from the public.
Also in 2024, the DPC played a lead role in clarifying how data protection rules apply to the training and development of artificial intelligence (AI) models, reports RTE.
To accompany its 2024 Annual Report, the DPC also released findings from an independent public opinion survey.
The survey revealed that nearly three-quarters of participants believe it is quite or very important for companies creating new technologies and services to comply with data protection laws, even if it slows down deployment, reports RTE.
In terms of data privacy concerns, 77% of respondents said they were worried about how children’s personal information is handled online.
An equal percentage expressed concern about the use of personal data to build digital profiles that could be sold, traded, or shared, reports RTE.
61% reported being uneasy about the use of artificial intelligence.
The Irish Independent was the first to report on the DPC’s engagement with Sky, reports RTE.
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