The government could start monitoring what we put on social media.
The Department of Social Protection is looking for tenders for a contract which would see online discussions and certain words monitored on the likes of Facebook and Twitter that may flag issues.
According to the Irish Times, there are plans for three bodies - a print and digital media monitoring service, one for broadcast media and another for social media.
But privacy experts are raising concerns about the government processing sensitive information.
The Department of Social Protection says the scheme is part of efforts to help it understand policy, economic and customer issues and says there is no guarantee it will go ahead with the monitoring.
