Questions by Member Beckerman (SP) to the Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations on privacy violation of house seekers (submitted December 4, 2018).
Question 1
Are you aware of the report that housing associations and housing distribution systems, such as Woonnet Haaglanden, are acting against the new privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation (AVG), by asking house seekers for an income statement as early as upon registration? 1) What is your response to this?
Answer 1
I have taken note of this reporting. The judgment whether these - associations of - corporations are in violation of the AVG belongs to the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (AP).
Corporations may check the income of prospective tenants when carrying out their duties, for example, because some homes are subject to income limits. The latter includes the suitability requirements under the Housing Act that require housing corporations to ascertain the income of the household in question when allocating a home. This information may not be older than two years at the time of allocation.
According to the Kassa report, some housing corporations and housing providers such as Sociale Verhuurders Haaglanden (SVH, "Woonnet") are already asking citizens for income and other data when registering as a house seeker. In response, SVH has stated that they only require citizens to do so when they respond to a property and an allocation is imminent. So citizens who want to register in order to build up waiting time are not yet required to provide this data, SVH indicates. How other corporations and housing allocators handle this is not known to me based on the information available to me.
Corporations requesting personal data in advance of an allocation must always have a legal basis for doing so under the AVG. The AP points out that housing associations themselves are responsible for complying with the privacy legislation, with industry associations being able to assist in shaping a good privacy policy. In this regard, it is important to note that Aedes has published the AVG Routeplanner for housing associations. This tool provides insight into the most important legal obligations and explains in concrete terms what measures a housing corporation must take to comply with those obligations. Furthermore, corporations must handle sensitive personal data with care.
Trade associations can also refer issues to the AP, which SVH has since done. I understand that SVH will adjust their practices if the AP should rule that they violate the AVG. I have asked Aedes to then bring the AP's judgment on the housing association practice in question widely to the attention of its members, so that, if necessary, they can also introduce a different working method.
Housing seekers can address any questions or complaints to the AP's Privacy Information and Reporting Point. The AP deals with all complaints and, if necessary, can investigate with the housing corporation concerned.
Question 2
How many housing corporations require house seekers to upload their income information, when it is only needed when a house is allocated, which requires an average wait of nine years? How will you ensure that corporations stop doing this?
Answer 2
I do not have information that would allow me to answer this question. Moreover, the implementation and degree of digitization of housing allocation systems may vary among corporations, so the method and timing of data retrieval will not be the same everywhere. Average waiting times also vary by corporation.
However, as also mentioned in my previous answer, corporations are bound by the requirements of privacy laws when allocating housing. The AP, as an independent regulator, will decide for itself whether and in which cases it will conduct further investigations. Should the AP rule that the method used by some corporations violates privacy laws, I will, as mentioned above, ask Aedes to communicate this position widely, so that corporations can change their allocation practices.
Question 3
How and in what timeframe will you ensure that housing distribution systems, such as Woonnet, do not ask for income statements from house seekers that are not necessary? Are you prepared to make both organizations with living space distribution systems and housing associations aware of the AVG and respect the privacy of house seekers and tenants?
Answer 3
For the answer to these questions, I refer you to my previous answers.
Question 4
Have people been denied enrollment because they earn too much, or have people been denied enrollment because they don't want to share their income information? If so, how many are these, and how are these people compensated for the lost time, such as by allocating additional waiting points or time?
Answer 4
I do not have any (numerical) information to answer these questions. The housing corporations have emphasized that they do register house-seekers with (too) high incomes, but that they are often unable to allocate them a house because of the allocation requirements of the Housing Act. Providing income information by (prospective) tenants when allocating a social rental home is required by law.
Click here to view the answers to parliamentary questions in a pdf file.
This article can also be found in the AVG file
