New privacy guidelines welcomed

The release of the OPC’s new guidelines today follows controversy over the original set of guidelines, which came out back in May.

They were intended to help landlords make decisions about what personal information it is reasonable to collect from prospective tenants.

But they were greeted with dismay by landlords and property managers who described them as confusing and contradictory in many areas.

There was particular concern about the restrictions around running credit checks on tenants and the prohibition on asking someone’s age and/or to see a drivers license number.