Rental platform unnecessarily collected the data of millions of Australians, privacy commissioner finds
An online rental platform has been urged to stop collecting users’ personal information after the Australian privacy commissioner found the gathering of “excessive” data compounded the vulnerability of tenants amid the housing crisis.RentTech platforms are increasingly used by real estate agents in Australia for people applying for rental properties to submit applications and supporting documentation.The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute has identified 57 different rent platforms operating in Australia.An Ahuri report released in January found while providing personal information is necessary for rental agreements, the “over-collection of data poses significant risks to renters’ data security and privacy”.In a first-of-its-kind determination against one of the platforms, published on Wednesday, the privacy commissioner, Carly Kind, found 2Apply, operated by InspectRealEstate, had collected excessive personal information in an unfair manner.
2Apply is one of the most commonly-used rental platforms in Australia and had processed more than 8.5m applications as of March 2025, the determination said.Kind found that 2Apply did not need to collect gender information, detail on dependents, student status, bankruptcy status, retirement status, previous living history, current ownership of property, applications for other properties, bond/rent assistance application status and citizenship status or visa expiry.Kind also found 2Apply could collect less information on emergency contacts, vehicle details, certain ID documents, proof of income documents and employment details.The privacy commissioner found that 2Apply’s application system exhibited what is dubbed “confirmshaming” – an online tactic that uses guilt to discourage a user from opting out of something.
,The form noteed that providing information would “help speed up your application process” and not providing it may “affect whether you are considered as a suitable tenant for the property”,Kind wrote: “These statements are not necessarily untrue or misleading … However, by presenting these messages to individuals, my view is that the respondent is employing language that suggests that the volume and type of personal information provided is an indicator of their suitability as a tenant,”InspectRealEstate was approached for comment,The commissioner noted that the platform had “laudably agreed to adapt its personal information collection practices on a without-admissions basis”, but her ruling required the company to cease collection of information deemed not necessary.
Kind noted in her determination the power imbalance for renters in providing this amount of information when seeking housing.“There is an inherent and significant power imbalance in the rental property market which favours real estate agents, property managers and landlords,” she said.“As an intermediary to individuals’ access to housing, this power imbalance also favours platforms such as 2Apply.“This power imbalance is exacerbated by a rental crisis in which there is a shortage of rental properties, sharply rising rents and other costs of living, and intense competition for properties.“In the absence of any legislated right to housing, the competitiveness of the rental market means people are at a disadvantage when trying to rent a home and are more vulnerable to unfair practices,” Kind said.
Although the decision applies to 2Apply, Kind said that she expects other RentTech providers to adapt their practices in line with the findings, and real estate peak bodies have been provided with the decision to assist the sector,Kind also noted that the over-collection of data could be a security risk for platforms, highlighting Guardian Australia reporting of an analysis of seven platforms that had millions of rental documents potentially publicly available,Samantha Floreani, digital rights advocate and PhD candidate analysing rental tech, said the ruling comes after a significant amount of research, advocacy and media reporting on the extensive and invasive personal information being extracted from renters,“There is a long list of categories of personal information that are routinely being collected from renters that have no bearing on their ability to pay rent, or a likelihood that they will look after the property,” Floreani said,“Renters shouldn’t have to choose between their data privacy and finding a place to live.
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Sir Hayden Phillips
Who do you send for when the mountain of flowers left by mourners at the gates of Kensington Palace for Diana, Princess of Wales threatens to catch fire from the heat of its decomposition? Or when you need to persuade a thousand senior Whitehall officials that they can no longer park on Horseguards? Or set up a National Lottery? Take action on Press Regulation? Find a compromise on party political funding? Or abolish the role of lord chancellor without rewiring the entire constitution?For more than 30 years, the answer to all these challenges and many more was to call for Hayden Phillips.The “mandarin’s mandarin”, one of the most influential Whitehall officials of his time, or “an oily Welshman” in the words of one disgruntled MP (Phillips was not Welsh), he was a byword in the corridors of power for his appetite for good living and the range of his contact book.When Margaret Thatcher wanted to find £50m from public funds to spend on the Thyssen art collection, Phillips – a Treasury official at the time – immediately called the director of the National Gallery, Neil MacGregor, to ask what his priority purchase for the nation would be if he had £50m.According to Phillips’ memoir, armed with MacGregor’s advice, he advised Thatcher that the Thyssen collection was not value for money. In the event the government offered for the collection, but it eventually went to Madrid
UK politics: Matthew Doyle claims he never sought ambassador role – as it happened
Matthew Doyle, the former No 10 communications chief who got a peerage after he left Downing Street, has said that he “never sought” a post as an ambassdor and that he was “never aware of anyone speaking to the FCDO about such a role for me”.He was responding to the revelations at today’s committee hearing with Olly Robbins.I will post the full quotes when I get them.UPDATE: See 3.53pm for the full quote
UK agriculture deal with EU will not remove all red tape, peers told
A new agriculture agreement with the EU will not wipe out all Brexit paperwork but might pave the way for sales of Scottish langoustines and oysters, the House of Lords has heard.The UK and EU are close to finalising a sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement to reduce Brexit trade barriers, and while it will have “modest” impact on the UK economy the agreement will be significant, peers on the European affairs committee were told on Tuesday.It would spell the end of physical checks on farm produce and the end of the need for veterinary certificates, which cost £200 each.It could also remove the need to label food as “Not for EU”, which has been “a significant problem” for wholesalers and distributors, said William Bain, head of trade policy at the British Chambers of Commerce.Bain, who is Scottish, said it could reopen the door for exports of Scottish langoustines and molluscs
Olly Robbins: I was asked to find job for Starmer aide and not tell David Lammy
Downing Street pushed the Foreign Office to find a diplomatic role for Keir Starmer’s communications chief over the head of the then foreign secretary, the former head of the department has revealed.Testifying to MPs at parliament’s foreign affairs select committee on Tuesday, Olly Robbins said he had several conversations with No 10 about finding a role for Matthew Doyle, who was later suspended as a Labour peer after it emerged he had campaigned for a friend charged with possessing indecent images of children.Robbins said he had been asked not to mention the idea to David Lammy, who was foreign secretary at the time.Robbins described the conversations as part of more general pressure from people at the top of the government to place senior political figures in senior diplomatic posts. He made the revelation while testifying to the committee about the appointment of Peter Mandelson as Washington ambassador
Starmer still faces more questions than answers after Olly Robbins’ quietly damning defence | John Crace
Well, what would you do? You’re a top civil servant with more than 25 years of government service. You’ve worked for Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Theresa May. You went through Brexit hell as a lead negotiator. You were sacked by Boris Johnson and were then brought back by Keir Starmer.You land a plum job as permanent undersecretary in the Foreign Office and do your boss a favour by appointing his man as ambassador to the US
Olly Robbins says he faced ‘constant pressure’ to get Mandelson in post
The sacked senior civil servant Oliver Robbins has said he was subject to “constant pressure” when he started working at the Foreign Office to get Peter Mandelson in post as soon as possible.He said the Cabinet Office urged the Foreign Office to allow Mandelson’s appointment as the UK’s ambassador to the US without the usual vetting process but the Foreign Office pushed back and the vetting eventually went ahead.In an extraordinary development, Robbins, who was sacked by Keir Starmer last week after the Guardian disclosed he had overturned a recommendation from UK Security Vetting (UKSV) to deny clearance for Mandelson, suggested he had done so without knowing the full extent of national security concerns over the Labour peer.The former permanent secretary made his decision to give clearance without seeing the UKSV form – which said there was a “high” overall concern and concluded “clearance denied” – or even knowing the details.Robbins also confirmed the Guardian’s story that senior government officials had considered whether to withhold from parliament sensitive documents about the vetting process, a story which was denied last week by the prime minister’s chief secretary, Darren Jones
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