DUBLIN, Ireland—Credit unions in Ireland are disputing a report that has drawn headlines across the country that they used “illegal tactics” to “obtain confidential details belonging to unsuspecting customers across the country.”
The Irish Independent launched the investigation and reported that investigators, known as “tracing agents,” have used “false identities to elicit private data from a number of State bodies, including the Department of Social Protection.”
The Irish Independent said the information obtained, including addresses and social welfare details, was then “then provided to credit unions in return for lucrative fees.”
Then newspapers reported that department officials who released the confidential information had been “duped” by the investigators. Credit unions and the Irish League of Credit Unions have denied using any of the information, and claimed they had been duped, as well.
What occurred is now the subject of a probe by the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.