Last year, a woman in Sandefjord contacted the Investigator1 Group for help in a property conflict. The woman demanded that the former cohabitant compensate her for the increase in value of what had been their common home.
Before the private investigator was involved, the woman’s former cohabitant must have pointed to the inability to pay and rejected the monetary claim, according to the Data Inspectorate’s decision.
Fine of 50,000 kroner
It was general manager Thomas Mathiesen who took the case. He made a credit assessment of the former cohabitant.
The investigator should not have done that, because now the Data Inspectorate has imposed a violation fee of 50,000 kroner. This is a high fine for a company with a turnover of around two million kroner.
The Norwegian Data Protection Authority states that the private investigator did not have a legal basis for checking the ex-cohabitant’s credit, because he has no customer relationship with the private investigator.
– In the Data Inspectorate’s view, there is a significant difference between a lawyer and a private investigator’s activities, the audit emphasizes.
Not unique case
Improper use of credit ratings is a recurring theme in the Norwegian Data Protection Authority. In the last couple of years alone, the audit in seven different cases has distributed almost two million kroner in fees in total.
Each time, the problem is that the person performing the credit check has no customer relationship with the person being checked.
– COMPANIES MUST TAKE CARE OF: Acting Director Janne Stang Dahl in the Norwegian Data Protection Agency says several cases with credit checks are underway, Photo: The Norwegian Data Protection Agency
–
– We are concerned that it is the companies themselves who are responsible for ensuring that the credit assessments they make are in line with the regulations. Everyone who runs a business and is going to check credit is responsible for following the regulations, says acting director Janne Stang Dahl in the Data Inspectorate to TV 2.
She confirms that the Authority receives a number of inquiries and complaints about credit checks.
– If you get a credit check and wonder why, we always recommend that you contact the company directly. If you do not receive a response, you are welcome to contact the Norwegian Data Protection Authority for advice, says Dahl.
Accepts the fee
General manager Thomas Mathiesen in Investigator1 tells TV 2 that he accepts the fee and that the company is in a process to improve internal guidelines.
– Lays down flat: – We were too quick in the turn, says general manager of Investigator1, Thomas Mathiesen. Photo: Paul Skajem Thürmer / Investigator1
–
– I have laid down and apologized to the person in question. We were too quick in the turn and checked without asking first, says Mathiesen to TV 2.
At the same time, he experiences that the relatively recent GDPR rules that are enforced by the Norwegian Data Protection Authority are so strict that it has become more difficult to conduct private investigations.
– It is important that people can seek a “second opinion” in society, a safety valve, says Mathiesen and points out that, for example, journalists have an exception from the GDPR.
– If we had received a licensing scheme, it would have been easier for us, says Mathiesen.
–
