Councillor lodges complaint after mass email from Presidential candidate

Dún Laoghaire Rathdown People Before Profit Councillor David O’Keeffe says he has lodged a formal complaint with the Data Protection Commission after receiving what appears to be a mass unsolicited campaign email from former Minister and Presidential candidate Heather Humphreys at 11:43 a.m. on Friday, 17 October 2025.

Councillor O’Keeffe also said he believes the same message was sent to every councillor in the country, raising serious concerns about how the campaign accessed and used elected representatives’ contact details.

“This is yet another example of the political establishment thinking the rules don’t apply to them,” said Councillor O’Keeffe.

“If an ordinary person or small business did this, there’d be investigations and fines — but when it’s a former Minister, there’s a shrug and a sense of entitlement.

“That double standard is exactly what people are sick of.”

O’Keeffe confirmed he had never subscribed to any campaign list or given consent to be contacted.

He has written formally to the campaign demanding an explanation and has reported the matter to the Data Protection Commission under GDPR and the ePrivacy Regulations 2011, which prohibit unsolicited electronic communications.

“It’s a small example of a much bigger problem a culture of privilege and impunity that runs right through this Government,” O’Keeffe said.

“People deserve leaders who respect the same laws and standards as everyone else, not politicians who think they’re above them.”

Councillor O’Keeffe noted that while his contact details are publicly available to allow residents to reach out for help or representation, that does not give someone who currently holds no public office the right to harvest those details and include them in a mass marketing campaign for political gain.