1.17 My personal information has been passed to a debt collection agency?
The provision of personal details to a debt collection agency to pursue a debt of behalf of a business does not give rise to any data protection concerns provided an acceptable data protection contract was in place between the two entities. For instance the debt collection agency would only be able to use the data provided for the purpose of pursuing the debt. This Office would consider it good practice in any case to highlight the possible use of a debt collection agency in a "terms and conditions" document.
The sale of a "book" of debts by an entity to a debt collection company will not likely give rise to data protection concerns provided the entity tells its customers that it is doing so either at the time of the sale or very clearly in the original "terms and conditions".
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