The 'credit scoring pandemic' and the European vaccine: Making sense of EU data protection legislation

Abstract

This article explores credit scoring systems as a tool used by the credit industry to evaluate consumers’ credit applications and creditworthiness within the context of the EU. After an analysis of the technologies and techniques behind the scoring of individuals, it investigates the most relevant issues behind the reporting of consumer financial information, i.e. the prejudicial side of sharing people's reputation exacerbated by ever-advancing information technologies and the disrespect of the privacy of consumers. This is put in context with an analysis of the values that the right of informational privacy protects and the dangers that data protection legislation aims to prevent. Ultimately, this article aims at showing that a correct application of the existing EU data protection legislation should prevent, or at least repair, the flaws of the uses of credit scoring and concerns over the respect of established privacy rights.