Historic decision addresses design, structure, way the company’s form conveyed information
Carly Kind, privacy commissioner, has highlighted a recent decision finding that the 2Apply rental technology platform, operated by software company InspectRealEstate (IRE), breached Australian Privacy Principles (or APPs) by collecting excessive personal information by unfair means.
According to a media release from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), the privacy commissioner determined that IRE collected personal information:
For the first time for the OAIC, the decision considered the design, structure, and way the 2Apply form conveyed information and applied the concept of online choice architecture, which addresses how the structure and presentation of choices to individuals can influence how they decide.
The privacy commissioner found that the 2Apply form utilised:
On a without-admissions basis, IRE had agreed to adjust its personal information collection practices.
In the final decision, the privacy commissioner required the platform to stop collecting certain personal information, including potential renters’ gender, student status, citizenship status, visa expiry, and previous living history.
With the issuance of the decision, the OAIC has wrapped up its year-long investigation into the matter.
While the determination applies solely to IRE, the privacy commissioner stressed the importance of other rent tech providers aligning themselves with the decision.
The privacy commissioner noted that she provided the decision to real estate peak bodies to help real estate agents, property managers, and landlords weigh its implications for their own information collection practices.
The privacy commissioner emphasised the power imbalance within the rental property market, intensified by the rental crisis and increasing living costs.
The privacy commissioner recognised consumers’ particular vulnerability to unfair information collection, as well as renters’ frequent lack of real choice when making rental applications.
“Either they hand over personal and private information, including ID documents and payslips, or risk housing precarity or even loss,” Kind said in the OAIC’s media release. “This not only places them at risk that their applications will not be considered fairly and equitably, but that their personal information may be compromised in a data breach or cyber attack.”
