EBA issues Opinion in response to the European Commission’s proposed amendments to the draft technical standards on crowdfunding service providers

EBA has published an opinion on the amendments proposed by the EC to the draft RTS on crowdfunding service providers (eventid=16284). The amendments primarily focus on the treatment of personal data in the context of creditworthiness assessment for crowdfunding projects.
The EBA accepts the change proposed by the EC, which relates to the storage of personal data included in documentation concerning the creditworthiness assessment of project owners. The EC suggests that such personal data should be retained for a limited period of time, not exceeding five years after the repayment of the final loan installment.
The EBA acknowledges the importance of adhering to the “storage limitation“ principle established under the GDPR. It agrees with the proposed amendment, which aligns with the GDPR’s requirement of storing personal data for the necessary duration to fulfill its original purpose. In this case, the retention period aims to assess the capacity of project owners to repay their loans.
While emphasizing the need to protect personal data, the EBA also highlights the importance of allowing crowdfunding service providers access to historical data. This access enables providers to improve their creditworthiness assessment and scoring models by comparing current and historical data. The EBA believes that the proposed amendment does not undermine the objective of accessing historical data for this purpose.