Data Protection Commission to meet FAI over youth soccer data leak ...

One club has already been suspended by the Dublin and District Schoolboys and girls League (DDSL) because of its refusal to use the registration app. The club reported the matter to the Data Protection Commission.

The DDSL is an affiliate league of the FAI and covers130 junior football clubs in Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare and Meath for children between the ages of 11 and 18.

The Ardmore Rovers club, which is based in Bray, Co Wicklow, said in a statement that it was extremely disappointed in the DDSL decision to omit its teams from fixtures.

“This is as a result of us advising our members not to use the DDSL registration system until all concerns regarding data security, privacy and protection were fully resolved,” it said.

“This matter is now with the Data Protection Commissioner, and they will guide our actions going forward.

“We will update our members as soon as possible on this urgent matter and hope to have our teams active again and playing football as soon as possible.

“We have not made this decision lightly; however, the welfare of our players will always remain our primary concern,” the statement added.

The app and software at the centre of the disagreement is called Sportlomo. Parents and clubs have raised concerns over its security in relation to personal data.

Parents registering their children are asked to submit information including photos and copies of passports of their children.

In a recent letter sent by Ardmore Rovers to the FAI and DDSL, seen by the Irish Independent, club chairman Ciaran O’Connor reiterated the concerns of the club.

These concerns include that the app allegedly allows unrestricted access to other DDSL clubs’ members data – including photos and passports of children – as well as access for other organisations such as IRFU and Rugby Europe.

The club said there were no proper user access controls in place to restrict data access, and personal data could be seen including contact details for members of other clubs and organisations across the globe.

The club also alleges web server information leakage, and called for the suspension of the Sportlomo software for player registration pending a full review of all concerns.

In the letter, Mr O’Connor said the information the club found was identified without any attempt to bypass or otherwise interfere with security protocols in the system.

“This information is simply available for anyone with a user access who wishes to see it.

“We cannot stress enough how serious these matters are and the potential impact it would have for the DDSL, the FAI and all affected organisations and clubs if a data breach were to occur, or if one was to have occurred already,” he said.

The office of the Data Protection Commission confirmed it would meet the FAI over the concerns raised by clubs and parents.

“We will be meeting with the FAI on Monday afternoon to discuss the matter,” a spokesman for the commission said.