The Swedish Data Protection Board (Datainspektionen) has criticised Swedbank for registering the fact that a customer had a prior conviction for robbing one of it branches.
“Information regarding crimes or suspected crimes can under no circumstances be registered,” the board wrote in its instruction to the bank.
The information was registered in the bank’s internal information system and consulted when the man applied for a student account offer.
While the information on the man’s conviction would appear in a routine credit check, the board has found the bank in contravention of Sweden’s Personal Data Act (Personuppgiftslagen – PUL) for making a note of the fact.
Read more on The Local (Sweden).