One of Australia's largest tenancy databases breached a renter's privacy by operating an additional service that tracked their movements over seven years, Australia's information watchdog has found.
Tenants advocates have welcomed the Information Commissioner's decision — which ordered information about the complainant to be removed from the database — but say there is still an unknown number of renters whose information may have been listed on virtual manager for longer than three years. Tenancy databases are designed to protect landlords from tenants who have a history of breaching their lease obligations. A handful of private companies, including TICA, operate them in Australia and they are widely used as part of rental application checks.
In the 14 years since, little information has been published about how the secretive service — which is only available for an additional fee to TICA's "gold members" — operates. The email notification includes the personal information of the renter — their name, current address and mobile number — as well as the contact information of the secondary real estate agent who searched for them in the database.
A spokesperson for the Real Estate Institute of Australia, the peak body representing real estate agents, said that the privacy of current and prospective tenants was paramount: "Agencies need to be diligent so that any tech tools are fully compliant and providing adequate consumer protection. That is our promise to our customers.
In response, the first real estate agent contacted the new agent and "advised them that the complainant had left the previous property damaged and with rent owing", the determination read.
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