Eurodac
Eurodac is an EU database that stores the fingerprints of international protection applicants and irregular migrants. Fingerprint evidence is used to indicate in which EU Member State the applicant first arrived. Fingerprints may be compared by checking Eurodac to establish the identity of applicants for international protection and of persons apprehended crossing the external EU border irregularly.
Eurodac facilitates the application of the Dublin III Regulation (EU) No. 604/2013 which sets out the process for determining the Member State responsible for processing an asylum application.
Eurodac was created by Council Regulation (EC) No 2725/2000 of 11 December 2000, as completed by Council Regulation (EC) No 407/2002 of 28 February 2002. Those two texts were repealed and recast in one regulation: Regulation (EU) No 603/2013 of 26 June 2013 (hereinafter 'the Eurodac Regulation') which entered into force on 20 July 2016.
European Supervision
The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) has supervisory competence for the central Eurodac system, reviewing the processing of personal data in the Eurodac database (central unit) and its transmission to the Member States.
The Eurodac Supervision Coordination Group is comprised of representatives of the national data protection authorities and the EDPS and meets twice a year. The national data protection authorities represented are those of the 28 EU Member States, as well as those of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
National Supervision
Data protection authorities in the Member States supervise the processing of data by the national authorities, and the transmission of this data to the central unit.
The Data Protection Commission is the national supervisory authority for Ireland. Section 12(2) of the Data Protection Act 2018 provides, among other matters, that the Data Protection Commission shall monitor the lawfulness of processing of personal data in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 603/2013 on the establishment of Eurodac for the comparison of fingerprints for the effective application of Regulation (EU) No 604/2013 establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection lodged in one of the Member States by a third country national or a stateless person and on requests for comparison with Eurodac data by Member States’ law enforcement authorities.
Access Rights
The International Protection Office (IPO) is an office within the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) responsible for processing applications for international protection under the International Protection Act 2015. It also considers, as part of a single procedure process, whether applicants should be given permission to remain.
You have the right to obtain a copy of any personal data processed about you by the International Protection Office, Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service, Department of Justice and Equality.
To make a Subject Access Request please see
http://www.ipo.gov.ie/en/ipo/pages/data_protection
Further Assistance
If you experience difficulty exercising your data protection rights in relation to Eurodac, you can Raise a Concern with the Data Protection Commission.