Rental apps have become a new trend of verifying the background of landlords and renters, and I had the opportunity to discuss about legal issues related to it in an TVBS news interview. In the interview, even though the founder talks about a lot of benefits of rental apps, I on the other hand discussed about the potential risks or concerns of these apps.
Rental apps allow people to check others’ backgrounds before signing a housing lease. The founder of this company told the reporter that they have created a rental app which collects a great deal of data from government and judicial websites. By entering one’s name, id number, and cell phone number, these apps can provide one’s information, such as whether a person is a missing person, wanted person, has traffic fines or not, and even one’s criminal records. In the past, one common situation was that a landlord might rent out his/her houses to wanted person without being aware of it. The renter might disappear after the contract terminated, and the house was left in a mess and full of trash. The landlord was unable to find the renter to get compensation. However, nowadays if a landlord uses rental apps and knows that the renter is a wanted person, he may not rent his house to that person. As a result, rental apps with background checks have become increasingly popular.
People who use others’ personal data for checking backgrounds may intrude on others' privacy and violate the Personal Data Protection Act
The reporter asked me if it is legal that people can use these apps without worries. I told the reporter that people who use others’ personal data for checking backgrounds may intrude on others' privacy and violate the Personal Data Protection Act. According to Personal Data Protection Act, when one wants to use another’s id number, one needs to have legal authorization or the specific consent(written or oral consent) from that person. That is to say, if one gets a potential renter’s id number, he/she cannot directly enter the id number to search the potential renter’s information without legal reason or specific consent. The person who intrudes on another’s privacy may be sentenced to imprisonment for up to five years, and also be fined up to NT$1million. Thus, people should be cautious before entering another’s id number and personal information without authorization.
People should get prior consent before using these types of apps if they want to check other people's information.
Human needs drive technological development. At the same time, we should be careful to use new technologies if we would like to avoid violating the law. It is without a doubt that these rental apps bring benefits to people by providing others’ backgound information. However, people should get prior consent before using these types of apps if they want to check other people's information.
News link: 防惡房客！ 輸「電話、姓名」可查租客不良記錄
- Relevant laws and regulations
Personal Data Protection Act
Article 19
Except for the personal data specified under Paragraph 1, Article 6, the collection or processing of personal data by a non-government agency shall be for specific purposes and on one of the following bases:
1. where it is expressly required by law;
2. where there is a contractual or quasi-contractual relationship between the non-government agency and the data subject, and proper security measures have been adopted to ensure the security of the personal data;
3. where the personal data has been disclosed to the public by the data subject or has been made public lawfully;
4. where it is necessary for statistics gathering or academic research by an academic institution in pursuit of public interests, provided that such data, as processed by the data provider or as disclosed by the data collector, may not lead to the identification of a specific data subject;
5. where consent has been given by the data subject;
6. where it is necessary for furthering public interest;
7. where the personal data is obtained from publicly available sources unless the data subject has an overriding interest in prohibiting the processing or use of such personal data; or
8. where the rights and interests of the data subject will not be infringed upon.
A data collector or processor shall, on its own initiative or upon the request of the data subject, erase or cease processing or using the personal data when it becomes aware of, or upon being notified by the data subject, that the processing or use of the personal data should be prohibited pursuant to the proviso to Subparagraph 7 of the preceding paragraph.
Article 41
If a person, with the intention of obtaining unlawful gains for himself/herself or a third party, or with the intention of impairing another person's interests, is in violation of Paragraph 1, Article 6, Articles 15, 16, 19, and Paragraph 1, Article 20, or an order or decision relating to the restrictions on cross-border transfers made by the central government authority in charge of the industry concerned in accordance with Article 21 of the PDPA, thereby causing damage to others, the person shall be sentenced to imprisonment for no more than five years; in addition thereto, a fine of no more than NT$1million may be imposed.