The Commissioner, Helen Dixon, is concerned that private detectives have been used to access the personal data of individuals in an illegal way. In 2014 - a 'very significant' year, according to Ms Dixon - the Commission made its first successful prosecution of a company, a private investigation business, for breaching data protection laws. 

Sector approach

Significant issues were found across the credit union industry in 2013 and 2014 relating to data protection breaches. Using a sector approach, the Commission is now going to look at the financial services sector generally and, according to Assistant Commissioner Tony Delaney, at 'insurance companies and law firms' in particular. Source: Irish Examiner