PHOTO: Landlords. NZ
According to STUFF Land Information NZ (LINZ) and the Privacy Commissioner are investigating a new website which allows tenants to find out how many other properties their landlord owns.
While the website, whatdoesmylandlordown.org, which launched on Wednesday, was using publicly available information, a number of concerns had been raised about it, and some landlords were concerned it would stir up resentment.
On Friday, the New Zealand Privacy Foundation said it breached the law and ethics around privacy, and LINZ announced it was looking into the website.
A LINZ spokesperson said the access and re-use of public datasets that contained property owner information, such as names, was protected by a requirement for users to agree to the LINZ Licence for Personal Data.
“We are investigating whether this website is operating in accordance with a licence. We’re also liaising with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner about privacy concerns raised.”
A spokesperson for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner said the commissioner took the use of personal information in ways that allowed individuals to be identified, and put them at risk of harm, very seriously.
“We are in touch with the website owners and have expressed the need for them to provide us with further information and assurances that they are compliant with the Privacy Act, and the need to take further steps to protect personal information.”
If people believed they had been harmed by the release of personal information about them via the website they could make a complaint to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, she said.
The team behind the website, who call themselves sunset_flowers, announced on Saturday that changes had been made to the way ownership results were displayed.
Property owners with fewer than 20 titles would now have their names redacted in search results, so it would be possible to see what else they owned but their names would not be accessible, a website update said.
“This is not because 19 is an ‘acceptable’ number of properties to own. In fact, we believe that owning *any* amount of land is a privileged position in society that should be scrutinised, particularly in a country where land is cut up and sold through colonial violence.”
The change was because most people who owned property also owned their own home, which meant it was possible for the data on the website to indirectly reveal people’s place of residence, the update said.
It also noted the website was struggling to function, and when Stuff tried to retest it following the change it was not working.
But Privacy Foundation secretary Kent Newman earlier identified two problems with the website which made it appear some people owned more property than they did in reality.
This occurred when owners shared common names like John Smith, or when an owner owned part of a multi-unit property, but were identified as owning the entire property.
Nick Gentle, who runs a Facebook group for property investors, said the website was basically a tool for slinging mud at, and inciting dislike against landlords.