How Safe Is Your Data ? Estate Agents hold a wealth of information….

Estate Agents hold a wealth of information about home-hunters, but new EU rules say they must be upfront about it, writes Arlene Harris of The Sunday Times, Ireland Edition. 

When Consulted, Gríana O’Kelly, of Lavelle Solicitors in Dublin, says transparency is a central principle of the regulation. “There must be a lawful basis for processing data,” she says. “Apart from consent, estate agents will have contracts with individuals regarding a property, and the performance of these contracts will form the legal basis for processing.

“However, agents still need to inform individuals in advance as to the ‘why, how and when’ of their processing. ‘Why’ means purpose, ‘how’ means how their data will be used and ‘when’ means how long their data will be retained — and agents should understand that personal data processing covers any information about a living individual that they store.”

Read the article in full here