How should Landlords deal with Data Protection?
GPRLA do not pretend to be experts on the position of individual landlords regarding data protection of the information they hold about their tenants, though we can tell you that most landlords, as a small business, are required to adhere to the Guernsey Data Protection Law and are no longer exempt from registering with ODPA as a data controller. Initially registration must be done by 28 February 2021, annually thereafter.
Those same landlords are required to have a privacy policy/statement which they should give to their tenant/s. GPRLA have produced a standard landlords privacy policy for the use of our members if they wish. Members can download this free from the members private area of our website, as opposed to the Privacy Policy of the Association itself which is in the website footer.
Two exceptions are landlords who don’t hold any information about their tenants, even their names, because either they use the FULL services of a managing agent, or they are letting to a company rather than individuals. If someone becomes a landlord after end February in any given year, registration is not required until January/February the following year.
For further advice please don’t contact GPRLA, but instead visit the website of the Office of the Data Protection Authority www.odpa.gg or contact ODPA enquiries@odpa.gg or phone 742074.