1.             Introduction

1. The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (the “Minister”), respects your right to privacy and complies with his obligations under the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003. The purpose of this notice (“Website Privacy Policy”) is to outline how the Minister (acting through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (the “Department”) and the Concessionaire (see 1D below) (together referred to as “we”)) deal with any personal data (as defined in the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003) (the “Personal Data”) and non-personal data you provide while visiting this website (the “Site”). Naturally, if you are not happy with this Website Privacy Policy you should not use this Site.

2. By visiting this Site, you are accepting the terms of this Website Privacy Policy. Any external links to other websites are clearly identifiable as such, and neither the Minister nor the Concessionaire is responsible for the content or the privacy policies of these other websites.

3. The Minister collects Personal Data from you through the use of the application and enquiry forms on this Site and the Minister is the Data Controller (as defined in the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003) in respect of all such Personal Data collected.

4. In operating the Certificate of Heritage Scheme (the “Scheme”),the Minister has established a service concession which is operated on behalf of the Minister by FEXCO (the “Concessionaire”), an unlimited company of FEXCO Financial Services Centre, Iveragh Road, Killorglin Co, Kerry.  The role of the Concessionaire includes, inter alia, accepting and processing applications for a Certificate of Irish Heritage (including contacting applicants in relation to their application or the applications they may make in relation to a third party (a “Third Party”) and the issuing of Certificates in relation to suitably qualified applicants (the “Certificate Holders”). The Concessionaire will also undertake, on behalf of the Minister, promotional activities with applicants who consent to the receipt of such information (see 3 below) and the Concessionaire will hold the Personal Data of such applicants for this purpose. The Concessionaire will be required to collect and further process Personal Data on behalf of the Minister.  The Concessionaire shall be a Data Processor (as defined in the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003), acting on behalf of the Minister, in respect of all such Personal Data collected and processed. In the event of the service concession being operated by a different concessionaire in the future, this change will be posted on the Site.

2.             Types of Information Collected

Two types of information are collected and retained:

“Personal Data”

This is data that identifies you or a Third Party or can be used to identify or contact you or a Third Party and may include names, addresses, email addresses, user IP addresses (in circumstances where they have not been deleted, clipped or anonymised), telephone numbers, birth dates and nationality. Such information is only collected from you if you submit it to us.

“Non-Personal Data”

This Site gathers statistical and other analytical information collected on an aggregate basis of all visitors to the Site. This Non-Personal Data comprises information that cannot be used to identify or contact you, such as demographic information regarding, for example, user IP addresses where they have been clipped or anonymised, browser types and other anonymous statistical data involving the use of this Site.

3.             Purposes for which we hold Information.

Non-Personal Data

Non-Personal Data gathered from visitors to this Site is used in an aggregate form to get a better understanding of where the Site’s visitors come from and to help the Minister, the Department and the Concessionaire to better design and organise the Site.

Cookies

Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer by websites that you visit. Cookies are widely used in order to make websites work, or work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the owners of the site.

We obtain information about your use of the Site by using cookies. This information helps us to improve the functionality of the Site and to deliver a better and more personalised service. At present, all of the cookies we use are essential for the Site to operate, therefore each one is referred to in the table below as an “essential site cookie”.

You can block cookies by activating the setting on your browser which allows you to refuse the setting of all or some cookies. However, if you use your browser settings to block all cookies you may not be to access all or parts of the Site. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies as soon you visit the Site.

4.             Purpose for Processing of Personal Data

Any Personal Data you provide to us will be processed for the following purposes:

1. in relation to the Scheme (including the making of a decision with respect to eligibility under the Scheme and to facilitate the issuing of a Certificate);
2. to contact you if required in connection with your application or to respond to any communications you might send regarding the Scheme; and/or
3. to contact you, if you have so consented, with information about topics, goods and services relating to Ireland which the Minister feels may be of interest to you or to inform you of events or other activities which might be of interest (such as information in relation to Irish tourism, arts and culture, financial services and doing business in Ireland). Such information will be provided by the Minister via the Concessionaire in partnership with other Government bodies such as Government Departments, agencies under the aegis of Government Departments (such as, for example Culture Ireland, the Central Statistics Office, etc.) or State sponsored bodies (such as, for example, Tourism Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, the National Treasury Management Agency, etc.).

5.             Disclosure of Information to Third Parties

We may provide Non-Personal Data to third parties, where such information is combined with similar information of other users of the Site. For example, we might inform third parties regarding the number of unique users who visit the Site, the demographic breakdown of community users of the Site, or the activities that visitors to the Site engage in while on the Site. The third parties to whom we may provide this information may include providers of design, hosting and web development services researchers and other similar parties.

We will not disclose your Personal Data (or the Personal Data of a Third Party who you are applying on behalf of) to third parties, unless the Minister believes in good faith that he is required to disclose it in order to comply with any applicable law, a summons, a search warrant, a court or regulatory order, or other statutory requirement.

By submitting your Personal Data (or the Personal Data of a Third Party who you are applying on behalf of) to this Site, and/or applying for or purchasing a Certificate  via this Site, you signify your consent to your Personal Data being used, processed by the Minister, the Department and the Concessionaire for any of the purposes outlined at section 4(a) or (b) above.

When you provide personal data about a Third Party or any living individual other than yourself, you must ensure you have the other person’s consent to process their personal data.

With respect to 4(c) above, applicants will have the option to consent to the receipt of future communications from the Concessionaire, acting and communicating on behalf of the Minister.  Those who provide an opt in consent to the receipt of such communications signify their consent to Personal Data being used and processed by the Minister and the Concessionaire for any of the purposes outlined at section 4(c) above on the terms set out in this Website Privacy Policy.

6.             Security

Your Personal Data (and the Personal Data of Third Parties) is held on secure servers. The nature of the Internet is such that we cannot guarantee or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us via the Internet. No data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. However, we will take all reasonable steps (including appropriate technical and organisational measures) to protect your Personal Data and that of Third Parties.

7.             Updating, Verifying and Deleting Personal Data

You may inform us of any changes in your Personal Data, and in accordance with our obligations under the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003 we will update or delete your Personal Data accordingly. To find out what Personal Data we hold on you or to have your Personal Data updated, amended or removed from our database, please contact us at [email protected]. Any such data subject requests may be subject to the prescribed fee.

8.             Changes to the Website Privacy Policy

Any changes to this Website Privacy Policy will be posted on this Site so you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. If at any time we wish to use Personal Data in a manner significantly different from that stated in this Website Privacy Policy, or otherwise disclosed to you at the time it was collected, we will notify you by email or post, and you will have a choice as to whether or not we use your information in the new manner.

9.             Further Information

Please address any questions, comments and requests regarding the data processing practices in relation to the Scheme to [email protected].