‘Shameful that credit unions gave PPS numbers to private investigators’

A senior data protection official has described as "shameful and shocking" how a number of credit unions helped private investigators dupe civil servants into handing over citizens’ personal details.

Two private investigators hired by credit unions to track down loan defaulters were yesterday fined a total of €10,500 in the first prosecution of its kind, after pleading guilty to unlawfully obtaining and disclosing protected personal details.

However, it was also revealed that the credit unions gave them personal data, including PPS numbers, which they had no legal right to do.