Irish Catholic Church records on baptisms and other sacraments may be inspected over GDPR concerns

The State’s data watchdog in Ireland may have to inspect Catholic Church records in its investigation into whether the church is legally obliged to delete records of people seeking to leave Catholicism.

Helen Dixon, the Data Protection Commissioner, said her office was investigating whether the church’s holding of personal data on baptisms and other Catholic sacraments that individuals may have taken falls under the EU’s data protection law, the General Data Protection Regulation.

The inquiry is being carried out after the personal data regulator received complaints from Marty Meany, editor of the tech website goosed.ie, and other former Catholics about the church’s refusal to delete baptismal records despite their efforts to renounce their religion.

Ms Dixon said the investigation, which started late last year, will examine whether the church records on baptisms, communions, confirmations and marriages are part of a structured filing system, which could fall under GDPR rules, or a more ad-hoc system that does not require regulation under data protection law.

Read more via The Irish Times