Data protection laws - Breaches are intolerable

The successful prosecution of three insurance firms for breaching data protection laws is a welcome development.

The case involves three well-known companies — Zurich, FBD and Travelers — which pleaded guilty to breaches of the data protection laws by using social welfare information obtained by a private investigator.

What is worrying about this scenario is the possibility that dodgy civil servants could be bribed to pass on sensitive information about people’s private business. In the event, the commissioners were alerted by the Department of Social Protection to a possible breach of data protection laws in December 2010, indicating that private investigators had obtained information from a source there.