Theme and Search Problem
Human rights are inherent rights of all human beings, regardless of race, creed, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion or any other condition. As such, rights are not merely privileges granted by other human beings, but rather qualities inherent in the status of human being, and for this reason cannot be restricted at the whim of someone.
Human rights are an integral part of the essence of man, and fundamentally, as a social and gregarious being, they play a decisive role in the maintenance, harmony and safeguard of freedom, peace and justice among individuals, so that they feel protected from abuses, such as discrimination, intolerance, injustice, oppression and slavery that can arise in this coexistence as well as feel willing and free to assume themselves with the dignity of human beings.
In August 2008, the Data Protection Commissioner of Ireland received a complaint concerning the alleged disclosure of personal information by an airline. The complainant stated that in June 2008, following a telephone call, the airline revealed, via email, a travel itinerary for herself and her husband, her husband's employer and that, as a result, her husband was Fired. The complainant stated that her husband's employer wrote a statement stating that the email was sent by the airline after the mere indication of the surname.
A copy of this statement has been made available to the Data Protection Commissioner. In the course of the investigation, the airline informed the Data Protection Commissioner that the security questions were asked before the email in question was sent to the third party. The airline did not dispute the sending of the e-mail, however, given that it did not record the telephone call with the request for information, nor was it shown that the system of security questions had been implemented, it was not possible to provide evidence that the security questions were asked in this case.
The Data Protection Commissioner also considered the fact that the booking was made through the complainant's personal computer, using a personal email address and not an email address of her husband's workplace. The Data Protection Commissioner, on the basis of the information submitted, together with the fact that the airline has not provided any evidence that its security measures were in fact used in this situation, decided, following the investigation of this complaint, that the airline broke the law by processing the personal information of the complainant and her husband and revealing to the husband's employer the itinerary of their journey, through the use of a mere electronic message. (Source: Irish Data Protection Commissioner. 2009. Case Study 1: Disclosure of personal data due to inappropriate security measures.)