By Sali Brown
Chelton Brown
DATA protection is about to change dramatically with the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), and the housing sector needs to be aware of the implications.
Landlords who handle and process personal data from tenants will need to understand their new responsibilities under the regulation.
Consent is a major part of the GDPR and it will no longer be enough for landlords to use blanket clauses to gain consent when collecting personal data.
In the past, landlords were advised to give tenants a privacy notice telling them what would be done with their personal data. That will no longer be enough. Now, not only will they have to explain clearly why the data is being collected and how it will be used, but the GDPR will require an individual’s consent to be fully informed and actively and freely given.
The GDPR calls for ‘clear, affirmative action’, so gaining a signature is highly recommended.
Additional consent will be required if the data is to be passed to a third party, for example for referencing purposes. Data subjects can withdraw consent at any time.
It would be wise for all landlords to review what personal data they collect from tenants and how they gain consent for it. They should look at how they manage and store that data and ensure it is kept and transmitted securely.
If the current consents they have do not meet the GDPR they will need to be refreshed.
Then they should review any contracts or arrangements with third parties – contractors or suppliers for example – that might involve sharing personal data.
The GDPR will introduce larger penalties for data breaches, with fines of up to four per cent of annual worldwide turnover or ?20 million.
Therefore, landlords should check what data security measure they have in place to ensure they have the safest system possible.
For larger landlords with multiple properties and tenants this should not be too onerous a task as they should already have secure systems and processes in place.
However, many landlords, particularly those with a small number of properties, could find themselves having lots of work to do to meet the GDPR, which is why it is important they start as soon as possible.
Whether you are a landlord with just one property or a portfolio then you need to prepare. It might just be safer to use an Agent that already has a process to comply with GDPR for more information contact Chelton Brown on 01604 603433.