Private eye fined for using civil servant to obtain data

A private investigator who used a mole in the Department of Social Protection to mine their computer system for personal information on others has been fined €4,000.

James Cowley, aged 65, of Brookdale Lawns, Rivervalley, Swords, Dublin, pleaded guilty to 13 charges under Section 22 of the Data Protection Act for unlawfully obtaining access to personal data and disclosing it to third parties without authorisation of the department.

Permanent TSB had hired him to trace people, while insurance firms including Zurich, Alliance, and the State Claims Agency used his services to carry out surveillance on possible bogus claimants.