I was one of a number of members of the Irish Computer Society’s security professionals network that submitted a submission recently to the Department of Justice following their recent publication of a consultation paper on data protection.

The general consensus of the response was that the option involving the development of a code of practice incorporating best practices on systems development and security and promoting greater awareness under existing legislation was the preferred option.

This code of practice could be the basis of a voluntary standard promoted by the Data Protection Commissioner to encourage adoption of best practices by publicly recognising organisations that adopt the standard and demonstrate compliance.