Private Landlords and Data Protection – Current Legislation – Data Protection Act 1988 - Landlords Association for Northern Ireland

Private Landlords and Data Protection – Current Legislation – Data Protection Act 1988

This week we look briefly at what the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has to say about the protection of tenant’s details.

The Data Protection Act 1998 allows landlords to retain personal information they hold about tenants where they have a legal obligation. However, at the start of a tenancy a landlord must make tenants aware of:

that their personal data is going to be retained
the purpose of retaining the data
possible disclosures

It is advisable to have this spelled out in the tenancy agreement.

The Act defines the following eight data protection principles which apply:

Personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully;
Personal data shall be obtained for one or more specified and lawful purposes, and shall not be further processed in any manner incompatible with that purpose or those purposes;
Personal data shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose or purposes for which they are processed;
Personal data shall be accurate and where necessary kept up to date;
Personal data processed for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes;
Personal data shall be processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects under the Data Protection Act 1998;
Appropriate technical and organisational measures shall be taken against unauthorised and unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of or damage to personal data; and
Personal data shall not be transferred to a country or territory outside the European Economic Area unless that country or territory ensures an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects in relation to the processing of personal data.

Tenants have the right to access of any information being held on them by the landlord. If a landlord receives a request he must provide the information requested within 40 working days. A charge of up to £10 can be made to cover the landlord’s expenses in providing the information. Tenants have a right to claim damages if they suffer loss as a result of inaccuracies, or a breach of the Act such as lost information or personal information being allowed to get into the hands of an unauthorised person.

A landlord can pass the names of new tenants to the utility companies. This may be necessary to ensure that the bills are sent to the correct person and address. A landlord can also pass on a tenant’s forwarding address to utility companies if the tenant has moved leaving behind an unpaid utility bill or an account in credit.

A landlord can also disclose a tenant’s personal information where there is a legal duty to do so.

In an emergency if a repair needs to be carried out, it would not breach the Data Protection Act to go ahead and provide tenants’ contact details to a contractor or suitable person to carry out the repairers.

A landlord can provide information to a guarantor or a tracing agent or debt collection company when a tenant has left without paying their rent

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