The Opposition has called for urgent reform of data protection laws after documents containing sensitive personal information belonging to AIB customers was found in a landfill site in Cork.
Thousands of AIB bank documents, believed to include personal information contained in loan applications, were unearthed yesterday by contractors clearing the landfill in Glounthaune, Co Cork, in preparation for the construction of the Midleton railway line.
Hospital patients’ medical records were found in the same landfill in May.
Fine Gael communications spokesman and Cork South Central TD Simon Coveney called on the Government to urgently reform data protection legislation.
“This is the second batch of sensitive personal documents that has been found at this single site, and by my count the 15th major data breach in Ireland since I took this brief last September,” he said.
“Breaches such as this of sensitive personal data can have extremely serious consequences for people involved, due not only to the compromise of personal details, but also to the potential for identity theft and other forms of fraud.”
The Opposition has called for urgent reform of data protection laws after documents containing sensitive personal information belonging to AIB customers was found in a landfill site in Cork.Mr Coveney said Fine Gael is working on proposals in the area, which will be published during the summer.
Labour Party TD for Cork North Kathleen Lynch said the discovery raises “several serious issues and questions”.
“We need to know the full extent of this. How many records were landfilled and over what timeframe? How many people, still alive, are affected by this? What assurances can the AIB give that the problem has been fully contained?”
She welcomed the fact that the bank has reported the incident to the Financial Regulator and to the Data Protection Commissioner but called on AIB to conduct a full audit of files that had been disposed of or destroyed.
“But they should also make it clear, that should an investigation by An Garda Siochana or other authorities prove necessary, that they will co-operate in full.”
“While these documents may date back to the seventies and eighties many of the people involved are still very much alive and well, and the thought that their most confidential information was dumped in a field, is absolutely unacceptable.”
AIB officials are inspecting the site today.
A company spokesman said: “The site is secure and AIB representatives will also remain there until it has been established that all legible AIB material has been identified.
"AIB has also informed the appropriate regulatory authorities. Most of the contents of these sacks had either already been shredded or have deteriorated with age to the extent that they are illegible. The material from the sacks which remains legible is currently being examined by the AIB officials and it will, therefore, not be possible to comment further on the nature of that material until they have completed that task.”