'Tenant black-lister loses privacy case'
April 19 2004
Ben Wilmot, AFR
Database operators and real estate agents will be forced to review their
use of tenants "black lists" after
the Privacy Commissioner found against one the largest operators in Queensland
and NSW.
The determination by outgoing federal privacy commissioner Malcolm Crompton
recognised access to housing was a human right and placed new restrictions
on agents and database operators.
More than 12,000 people throughout Australia are on black lists, but the
determination has placed a four-year limit on listing for most kinds of defaults.
In a significant change, tenants will have to be informed that they are
listed by database operators and real estate agents.
Lawyers involved in the case said that the determination was the first under
the Privacy Act to affect the private sector.
The representative action was taken by the Tenants' Union of Queensland
against the Tenancy Information Centre Australasia, or Tica. Tica runs the
largest tenancy black list in Queensland and NSW.
The case was taken on behalf of tenants who had been listed incorrectly,
had their identities confused, or were listed over trivial or vindictive
matters.
Chris Connolly, director of the Financial Services Consumer Policy Centre,
advised the complainants and appeared at the pre-determination hearing.
"The determination is a massive win for the tenants, finding more than
a dozen breaches of sections of the Privacy Act," he said. "They
didn't win on everything - but the majority of complaints were upheld."
The Privacy Act provides that tenants must have access to their records
without being charged excessively. However, Tica charged users $327 an hour
to access information via a 1900 number.
A market research firm found accessing a clean record took an average of
six minutes, which the privacy commissioner deemed excessive.
The privacy commissioner also found dozens of inaccuracies in the first
50 records in Tica's database.
He ordered the company to clean up its files and conduct 500 audits over
the next 12 months.
A national working party of attorneys-general is considering regulating
black lists. Mr Connolly said that the substantial privacy breaches might
bring tougher commonwealth and state regulation.
"The elements of the decision from the privacy commissioner accord
with the tenancy laws and practices we've argued for for some time," NSW
Council of Social Service director Gary Moore said.
"We're awaiting what [NSW Minister for Fair Trading] Reba Meagher is
or isn't going to do," he said. "This decision gives some impetus
for the government to move in this area."
