FOLLOWING a spate of hacks that have hit major companies the likes of Optus and Medibank in recent months, the real estate sector fears they’ll suffer the same fate.
A large amount of personal information is kept private in the rental sector for renters when they submit an application for a rental property.
Any release of this data could be catastrophic and Dr Chris Martin, senior research fellow from the UNSW City Futures Research Centre says governments need to review tenancy laws to protect tenants.
“They’re collecting a lot more personal information, with arguably not a whole lot of purpose behind it,” Martin says. “It’s a big risk if all of that information falls into the wrong hands.”
Identify theft is a legitimate fear with the amount of personal information that is vulnerable if a hack occurs. Some of this information includes multiple identification documents, bank statements, utility bills, employment details and rental history.
The information that agents ask for and receive from tenants is excessive and doesn’t have enough restrictions Dr Martin says. Only the Victorian Residential Tenancies Act has restrictions on landlords and agents asking tenants about particular details, as a result of recent amendments.
“The sorts of questions being asked in tenancy applications are getting more intense,” Dr Martin says. “Applicants might not want to hand over that level of information because of privacy concerns, but they’re in a position where they have little choice.”
“It’s not just a matter of protecting tenants’ data from hackers. It’s an issue for housing access,” he says. “Questions about source of income, social security recipient status and whether you’ve applied for social housing can be used to deny you a tenancy, and it’s not unlawful and not regulated in any jurisdiction.”
“We should be doing more in our residential tenancy legislation to regulate the tenancy application process and the information collected by agents, landlords and third-party intermediaries,” Martin says.
Individual landlords and some smaller agents aren’t covered by the Australian Privacy Principles. Those who are covered can collect information that is “reasonably necessary” for their functions or activities, which Dr Martin says leaves a lot of room for interpretation.
“If it’s argued their function is to assess the best candidate for tenancy, then there could be quite a broad scope to argue they can legally collect substantial personal information to do that.”
Martin emphasises that laws and regulations need to be tougher on landlords and agents so that an understanding can be reached in regards to the privacy of tenants.
“Other countries also have registration requirements for landlords, like some parts of the UK, which have some requirements around the education of landlords,” he says.
“In tight markets, as we’re seeing in Australia now, landlords and agents feel they can ask for more and more.”
“The fact it always happens that way – that it’s landlords and agents extracting more and more from tenants – shows how asymmetric the relationship is and why we need stronger residential tenancy laws.”
