1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,160
Speaker 1: Privacy Commissioner got some advice for landlords. Concerns have been

2
00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:06,120
Speaker 1: raised around tenants, especially students, being asked for personal information

3
00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,280
Speaker 1: that hasn't legally required. The Privacy Commissioner as Michael Webster,

4
00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:13,200
Speaker 1: who's with us, Michael, morning to you, good Michael. We're

5
00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:15,560
Speaker 1: dealing with at the vulnerable end of the market, people

6
00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:17,680
Speaker 1: like students, people in a rush and a hurry, things

7
00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:19,640
Speaker 1: like that.

8
00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:23,000
Speaker 2: That's right, that's right. And we know that most landlords

9
00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:25,720
Speaker 2: and most tenants are decent people and just want to

10
00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:29,360
Speaker 2: do the right thing to develop a good relationship. They

11
00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:32,800
Speaker 2: both want something from the other. But we do know

12
00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:35,720
Speaker 2: that while the majority of landlords care about tenants privacy,

13
00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:38,480
Speaker 2: there can be a lot of factors to weigh up

14
00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:41,800
Speaker 2: when you're considering what can be an avalanche of applications

15
00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:46,040
Speaker 2: coming in, and it can be tempting for landlords to

16
00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:51,159
Speaker 2: over collect personal information, to ask too much from application

17
00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:53,640
Speaker 2: from tenants potential tenants.

18
00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:56,400
Speaker 1: So what are the practical outworkings? Though, if you're full

19
00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:58,280
Speaker 1: of you you know, and go I know my rights

20
00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:00,120
Speaker 1: and I you can't ask me that, then guess that's

21
00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:01,400
Speaker 1: what you're not going to get the flat? Are you

22
00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:04,840
Speaker 1: rightly your role there, that's your artworking.

23
00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:08,480
Speaker 2: So I guess there's a couple of things there. First

24
00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:13,960
Speaker 2: is that there are particular sets of information that landlords

25
00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:16,959
Speaker 2: can ask for, and tends need to understand that as well.

26
00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:19,560
Speaker 2: At each stage of the tendency. If you're looking at

27
00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:22,920
Speaker 2: a property, landlords often collect name and contact details. If

28
00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:26,000
Speaker 2: you're applying for the property, landlords might ask for things

29
00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:30,319
Speaker 2: like proof of identity, questions about pet ownership, smoking, that

30
00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:33,360
Speaker 2: sort of thing. If you're shortlisted or offered the tendency,

31
00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:36,640
Speaker 2: the landlord can then ask for information to carry out

32
00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:39,240
Speaker 2: credit or criminal record checks and the evidence of ability

33
00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:41,640
Speaker 2: to pay the rent. It's just asking for the right

34
00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:43,080
Speaker 2: information at the right stage.

35
00:01:43,319 --> 00:01:46,119
Speaker 1: Is it better, generally in your experience, that a rental

36
00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:48,880
Speaker 1: agent they behave themselves because they're part of an industry,

37
00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:51,040
Speaker 1: as opposed to just an individual landlord who may or

38
00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:52,080
Speaker 1: may not know what they're doing.

39
00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:55,800
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, what

40
00:01:55,840 --> 00:02:01,520
Speaker 2: we're wanting here is good privacy, calling good business. Get

41
00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:04,520
Speaker 2: the relationships right with the possible tenants from the very beginning,

42
00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:07,440
Speaker 2: and hopefully you'll have a long term relationship where your

43
00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:09,839
Speaker 2: property is keyed for and you get the income coming

44
00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:10,480
Speaker 2: in that you want.

45
00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:13,040
Speaker 1: Having said that, is this actually a problem? Because I

46
00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:15,160
Speaker 1: read your press release in the early hours of this morning,

47
00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:18,160
Speaker 1: there's not a single example given. It's just to generalize.

48
00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:20,280
Speaker 1: I woke up and here's a problem we might or

49
00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:22,280
Speaker 1: might not have. Is it an issue?

50
00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:25,160
Speaker 2: We have had some problems in the past, So what

51
00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:28,160
Speaker 2: we've done here is simply update our guidance because we

52
00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:31,160
Speaker 2: are heading into a time of peak rental season activity.

53
00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:36,160
Speaker 2: We've had problems in the past with landlords setting up, say,

54
00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:40,600
Speaker 2: blacklists of tenants, and including information on those blacklists that

55
00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:44,919
Speaker 2: they shouldn't include. That might be inaccurate, it might be wrong,

56
00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:47,920
Speaker 2: that might be in breach of other pieces of legislation,

57
00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:49,239
Speaker 2: even suppression orders.

58
00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:54,000
Speaker 1: What happens when tenants leave your property and the garage

59
00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:58,560
Speaker 1: remotes missing. Who pays for that? So at the end

60
00:02:58,600 --> 00:02:59,880
Speaker 1: of the day asking.

61
00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:04,520
Speaker 2: Order rental agreements at the end of the day, there

62
00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:08,040
Speaker 2: are the bond arrangements that are looked after in a

63
00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:10,480
Speaker 2: much better way now than they used to be. And

64
00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:14,639
Speaker 2: I think your station reported the other day, Mike, for example,

65
00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:18,320
Speaker 2: some tenants were using a house as a mess lab

66
00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:21,080
Speaker 2: and at the end of the day, the owners of

67
00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:24,560
Speaker 2: that House took those people through the tendency tribunal and

68
00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:28,120
Speaker 2: got substantial damages. So there are processes to protect landlords

69
00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:31,560
Speaker 2: property through that their bond process through the tendency tribunal.

70
00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:34,400
Speaker 1: Good only Michael appreciate it very much. Michael Webster, Privacy Commissioner,

71
00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:39,120
Speaker 1: just from miss and Garagter mights. That's all. May or

72
00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:41,400
Speaker 1: may not have something to do with me. For more

73
00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:44,560
Speaker 1: from the Mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to news talks

74
00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:47,760
Speaker 1: that'd be from six am weekdays, or follow the podcast

75
00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:48,680
Speaker 1: on iHeartRadio