One of the major banks has admitted to looking at customers’ social media

Data privacy online is a huge issue, with major tech firms under the spotlight over how our personal information is used.

Banks could now come in for some heat as AIB has admitted to monitoring customers' activity on social media. It's one of the conditions of trying to get a mortgage with the bank or with its subsidiaries Haven and EBS, reports The Irish Independent. Mortgage applicants have to give permission for the bank to look at their social media accounts. There is no option for applicants to opt-out of being monitored on social media. The bank calls the practice "regular social listening" and says it analyses data that it "collects and holds on you through channels, such as social media networks (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc.)." "We use personal information provided on AIB Group social channels solely to respond to and deal with customer comments or queries or for such other purpose for which it is provided," a spokesperson said. It also uses the information to keep an eye on social media trends and sentiment towards the AIB brand among social network users, it says. The bank has insisted that it only looks at publicly available social media content, such as comments. "We never analyse individual customer social media accounts or use our customer service or other social media data in any way to analyse individual customer behaviours."