Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said the Government and the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) are examining revelations about the sale of Irish mobile phone location data.
A RTÉ Prime Time investigation programme last night found that detailed smartphone movement data is available to purchase from brokers in the digital advertising industry.
As part of the investigation a Prime Time team went undercover posing as a newly established data analytics firm and obtained a sample of data from a supplier said to contain the precise movements of 64,000 Irish smartphones during a two-week period earlier this year.
The data was analysed and showed how the specific movements of phones in prisons, military bases and other secure or sensitive locations could be isolated and then tracked back to residential addresses.
Speaking to reporters in Lismore, Co Waterford, Mr Martin said: "People shouldn't share their location data.
"I think one of the issues is when people are downloading apps or generally speaking, they don’t read all the terms and conditions, and they tend to bypass those."
"We do need to examine it because there are security implications in terms of tracking of movement, particularly of people who may be vulnerable and on security grounds," he added.
"Again, GDPR, there could be an issue there legally, there could be a demarcation line between GDPR and anonymous location identification.
"So the Data Protection Commissioner is looking at this, the Government will also now examine it and we’ll discuss and engage with the Commission and with industry, particularly in terms of the security dimension of this development."
It comes after Labour leader Ivana Bacik has described the revelations as "utterly chilling" and called on the Government to state whether it has confidence in the DPC.
Ms Bacik said the ability to trace individuals in the data through sensitive locations represented not just a breach of privacy but a threat to national security.
The data also showed the movement of phones around Leinster House.
"It was chilling watching the investigation," Ms Bacik said.
"I'm looking at that map of Leinster House, and I can see the Labour Party offices there. I can see the cluster of phones in our line of offices there. It's utterly chilling," she said.
