Court Won’t Order Bad Tenants Facebook Group To Release Information
A bunch of landlords in NZ were running a Facebook group called “Bad Tenants”, where they were sharing personal details about tenants <https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/court-wont-force-bad-tenants-facebook-group-to-release-information/TMD373ZHUGKIZSOHTTNQCUYPSM/>: ... it provides a space for landlords to share personal information about their tenants as a warning to other property owners, essentially blacklisting them. The Privacy Commission and Renters United have stated explicitly that this sharing of private information is against the law. So a tenant named Adam Sheehan took a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner last year, who directed that the group hand over any information they had about him. But they did not comply, and deleted the group. So then he went to court. But the court decided that there was no way they could enforce any decision made against the group. Under the Privacy Act 2020, any individual can request information that any organisation holds about them - whether it's the police, the Ministry of Health or an insurance broker - and they have to supply it. However, because a Facebook group isn't an organisation or an incorporated body, just a group of individuals, there was no one specifically for the tribunal to order to release Sheehan's information. I wonder, when groups or accounts or pages are deleted, does Facebook guarantee that that information really and permanently disappears?
No. Simply because Facebook itself still holds that information and stores it forever. Ngā mihi David Nicholls Computer Support Consultant Information Technology Services Ph: +64 07 838 4586 Cell: 022 028 25 60 University of Waikato | Private Bag 3105 Hamilton 3240 | New Zealand waikato.ac.nz [image: University of Waikato] *Log & track your Service Requests in Kuhukuhu: kuhukuhu.waikato.ac.nz <https://kuhukuhu.waikato.ac.nz/>.* On Sat, 8 Oct 2022 at 10:57, Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo(a)geek-central.gen.nz> wrote:
A bunch of landlords in NZ were running a Facebook group called “Bad Tenants”, where they were sharing personal details about tenants < https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/court-wont-force-bad-tenants-facebook-group-to...
:
... it provides a space for landlords to share personal information about their tenants as a warning to other property owners, essentially blacklisting them.
The Privacy Commission and Renters United have stated explicitly that this sharing of private information is against the law.
So a tenant named Adam Sheehan took a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner last year, who directed that the group hand over any information they had about him. But they did not comply, and deleted the group. So then he went to court. But the court decided that there was no way they could enforce any decision made against the group.
Under the Privacy Act 2020, any individual can request information that any organisation holds about them - whether it's the police, the Ministry of Health or an insurance broker - and they have to supply it.
However, because a Facebook group isn't an organisation or an incorporated body, just a group of individuals, there was no one specifically for the tribunal to order to release Sheehan's information.
I wonder, when groups or accounts or pages are deleted, does Facebook guarantee that that information really and permanently disappears? _______________________________________________ wlug mailing list -- wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz | To unsubscribe send an email to wlug-leave(a)list.waikato.ac.nz Unsubscribe: https://list.waikato.ac.nz/postorius/lists/wlug.list.waikato.ac.nz
participants (2)
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David Nicholls -
Lawrence D'Oliveiro