One of Australia’s most-used tenancy application platforms has breached privacy laws, Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind has ruled.

2Apply, owned by InspectRealEstate, is a third-party platform that has processed more than 8.5 million tenancy applications.

The commissioner launched an investigation into 2Apply in March last year. In a landmark determination published this week, she found that over a five-year period, 2Apply had interfered with consumers’ privacy by collecting unnecessary personal information via unfair means.

The landmark determination puts the booming rent tech industry on notice, and will help protect renters’ rights. But it must be complemented by further legislative reform.

An expanding industry

The rental technology – or rent tech – market has been expanding.

Rent tech platforms are websites or mobile apps designed to facilitate one or more aspects of the rental process – such as submitting maintenance requests, paying rent, or conducting digital inspections.

There are many different rent tech platforms. Released in March 2020, 2Apply is one of the most commonly used.

Collectively, these platforms have drawn considerable scrutiny due to the amount of personal data they ask renters to hand over.

In 2023, the National Cabinet committed to strengthening the protection of tenants’ personal information. However, progress has been slow.

In research published in January, my colleagues and I found that application platforms enabled real estate agents to request more than 50 types of information.

There’s also........

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