Central Bank publishes Central Credit Register data management review
12 November 2024
Press Release
The Central Bank of Ireland has today (12 November 2024) published an executive summary (PDF 197.27KB) of the independent review of data management of its Central Credit Register (CCR).
In October 2023, the Central Bank committed to carrying out an independent review after identifying an archiving error that affected the retention period of certain borrower information held on the CCR. As a result of the error, some borrower information was retained on the CCR – and included in credit reports – for an additional three months longer than permitted. This constituted a breach under data protection legislation. No data was compromised or accessed by any unauthorised third parties.
Beyond the immediate resolution of the specific incident, the Central Bank initiated an independent review of broader data protection safeguards, management, controls and oversight measures in place with respect to the operation of the CCR. The executive summary (PDF 197.27KB) published today summarises the key findings and recommendations from the independent review.
Vasileios Madouros, Deputy Governor for Monetary and Financial Stability, said: “It is important to hold ourselves to the highest standards in data management. I welcome the report and recommendations in full. While the independent review highlights a number of areas where good practices are in place, it has also identified areas where we need to strengthen controls. These will increase the overall effectiveness of the CCR service and we are now working to implement the recommendations. It is important for the public to know that the CCR will continue to operate as normal – the recommendations will only change how the Central Bank operates internally.”
Last year, the Central Bank received notification from the Data Protection Commission (DPC) of the commencement of an Inquiry into the incident. We take our data protection obligations seriously and we will continue to engage fully with the DPC on the matter, which is ongoing.