"We have found over the last couple of years that private investi

From Humphrey Bogart’s portrayal of Philip Marlowe in The Big Sleep, to Mickey Rourke's eerie turn as Harry Angel, in Angel Heart, to the disarming Hercule Poirot, the image of the private investigator has been explored in almost every conceivable variation in fiction.

But on Today with Keelin Shanley, the image of some real-life private investigators has taken a bruising, with Assistant Data Protection Commissioner, Tony Delaney, clearly disturbed by the behaviour by some in the profession.

“One of the biggest things is unlawful access to personal data, particularly personal data held on state databases.”

According to Mr Delaney, some private investigators are using car tracking technology to spy on insurance customers suspected of making fraudulent claims. And whereas these devices are not illegal, per se, how they are used may stray into the realms of illegality.

Similarly, although the engagement of private investigators is perfectly legal, the activities they undertake to assist their clients, whether insurance companies or other parties, must be undertaken within the boundaries of the law.

Of particular concern to Tony Delaney is the seeming ease with which Private investigations can access information found on state databases.

“We have found over the last couple of years that private investigators are able to access data, either by blagging information or by contacting people that they know who work in those government agencies, and asking them for information. And it is a criminal offence.”

Anyone who has been to a hospital, who has made a tax decoration, who has opened a bank account, social media account, or a host of other accounts, now has personal information stored on databases. And the rules governing how that data is protected is covered by various laws, principally the 1988 Data Protection Act. Under section 3 of that act, you are entitled to find out if an individual or organisation holds information on you. And the Data Protection Commissioner is there to help you vindicate your rights under data protection legislation.

From the moment practically you are born now, you are given a PPS number and you are 'in the system'. But even engaging with the HSE or the Gardai, we expect that the information held on those databases is securely held and sacrosanct and not open to private investigators to get hold of.

Also appearing on the show was one 35-year veteran private investigator, Sandra Mara, who was adamant that most private investigators act well within the law. However, she also expressed concerns about the extent to which data protection laws can be used to enable criminality.

“I think data protection is a necessity, but I don’t think it should be so onerous as to leave a gateway to fraud.”

— Private investigator Sandra Mara

Click here for the full interview