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The Central Bank of Ireland has revealed that it unintentionally retained the personal credit histories of numerous individuals for an extended period, potentially leading to challenges for loan applicants.
The Bank has disclosed that it recently uncovered an “archiving error” that resulted in the prolonged retention of specific borrower data within the Central Credit Register (CCR), surpassing the permissible limit of five years.
The error, stemming from a technical glitch in the automated deletion process of historical records, caused the data to remain on the register for an additional three months beyond the designated timeframe, according to an official statement.
As a consequence, approximately 20,500 borrowers had information related to repayment difficulties recorded during the three-month extension, which should not have been present in the register.
This oversight qualifies as a data breach under the realm of data protection regulations.
“At this stage…the Central Bank is not in a position to determine with accuracy the extent to which credit applications were adversely affected by this incident,” stated the release.
Additionally, the Bank conveyed its ongoing engagement with lenders to communicate the occurrence and ascertain whether the extra three months of historical credit data had any impact on their lending decisions.
The Central Bank of Ireland reassured the public of its commitment to addressing the situation while working towards minimizing any potential repercussions for borrowers.
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