The Irish Examiner reports that three insurance companies, including Zurich Insurance Plc, FBD Insurance Plc, and Travellers Insurance Company Ltd, have made guilty pleas at the Dublin District Court to 10 counts of violating the Data Protection Act. Reportedly, each company admitted to possessing personal information in relation to the employment, earnings and welfare claims of 15 people, information that was obtained by a private detective from a leak in the Department of Social Protection. Judge Anne Ryan reportedly held that the companies would not receive criminal convictions or monetary penalties if they each gave €20,000 to a charity for homeless people. Assistant Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) Tony Delaney stated that insurance companies "were well aware" that any data they handle must be publicly available, but also agreed that the companies had co-operated with the investigation, and had taken steps in relation to the hiring of private investigators to ensure that there will be no further data protection breaches, reports the Irish Examiner.

Irish Examiner: Insurance companies admit breaking data protection laws (13 February 2012)
(Source: Irish Examiner)