EU Homeless Count Data Protection Notice

EU Homeless Count Data Protection Notice

1           Who we are

Focus Ireland is a registered charity that help people get and keep a home ending homelessness for good.

You can find out more information on who Focus Ireland is and what we do on our website – www.focusireland.ie.

2           About this Data Protection Notice

This notice covers our processing of data for the EU Homelessness Count which is a two year research project, funded by the European Commission. Using similar methods, the aim is to find a common way to define homelessness, to count the number of people experiencing homelessness in different European cities and to describe some of their basic features like age, gender, nationality etc. The project is managed by a team of researchers at the University of KU Leuven in Belgium. Focus Ireland are leading the study for Cork and Dublin cities in Ireland.

See the EU Homelessness Count website for more information on the project and results from the first-year pilot count across 15 cities, which took place in October 2024. A second count will take place in October 2025 when 34 European cities will participate.

3           Our contact details

If you have any queries or concerns in relation to our processing of personal data or the contents of this Data Protection Notice, we would be happy to help.  You can contact us by writing to, emailing, or phoning our head office:

Focus Ireland                                                             

9-12 High Street                                                         info@focusireland.ie

Christchurch

Dublin 8                                                                        +353 (0) 1 881 5900

D08 E1W0

Contact details for Data Protection Officer (DPO):

You can also contact our Data Protection Officer (DPO) directly using the contact details below:

Data Protection Officer (DPO)                                dpo@focusireland.ie

9-12 High Street

Christchurch

Dublin 8                                                                        +353 (0) 1 881 5900

D08 E1W0

4           What data we process and why

Personal data is any information which identifies you or could identify you.

The below table summarises the type of data we process for different activities we do.

5           Profiling and Automated Decision Making

Your data will not be used in any automated decision making.

6           Data Sharing

We will share your data with the University KU Luven who are the project managers of the EU Homeless Count. The data we share will be pseudonymised so it cannot be easily linked back to you. This data will be used to compile the comparative report required by the EU Commission. Data will be shared using a secure file share system.

7           Data transfers outside of the EEA

We do not transfer customer data outside of the EEA.

8           How long we keep your data for

Only anonymised data will be retained by Focus Ireland for two years before being archived. It will be retained for a further 3 years in archive before being deleted.

9           Your rights

You have certain rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

If you wish to exercise any of your rights, please make a request to the Data Protection Officer (DPO) using the contact details listed at the start of this Data Protection Statement.

9.1          Withdrawing and Amending your Consent or objecting to the processing

Where we rely on your consent to process your personal data, you have the right to withdraw the consent at any time. Where you withdraw your consent, we will cease any further processing. However, it will not affect the lawfulness of our previous processing. You also have the right to object to your data being used in as part of the EU Homeless Count.

You can withdraw or amend your consent or object to your data being used by emailing help@focusireland.ie or dpo@focusireland.ie or phoning 01 881 5900.

9.2           Right to Complain to the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC)

The Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) is the supervisory authority or regulator for data protection in Ireland. You can make a complaint to the DPC if you feel your data protection rights have been infringed or you are not satisfied with how we process your personal data.

If you have any concerns over the processing of your data, you should first try to resolve the issue by contacting our Data Protection Officer.

If you wish to complain to the DPC, you can find their contact details on Homepage | Data Protection Commission.

10       Security of your Data

The security and protection of your personal data is very important to Focus Ireland. We take measures to protect all personal data we are trusted with.

We have measures to protect digital data on our IT systems and devices for example Laptops and PCs are encrypted. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) in use. Mobile devices are password protected or have FaceID/TouchID activated. Access control in place to restrict access on a need-to-know basis. Firewalls, Antivirus protection, Endpoint protection and Back-ups in place.

All employees receive regular training in data protection, IT and cyber security. This is also part of our employee induction training for new employees.

11       Updates to this Notice

Any changes to this notice will be updated here. This notice was last updated September 2025.

Appendix 1: List of participating organisations