"The 47-year-old Victorian school teacher was in the process of moving to a new town and applying for rental properties online. Around this time and unbeknown to him his mobile phone number was transferred to someone else. Michael says this was achieved by having access to something often required for identity verification: his passport number. After that, someone was able to gain access to his bank and superannuation accounts, and began making transfers."
"As Guardian Australia reported this week, millions of leasing documents held by rent platforms could be accessible online without any sort of authentication required, according to analysis of seven such services. Over-collection of data' An Australian Housing and Research Institute (Ahuri) report released last month says while providing personal information is necessary for rental agreements, the over-collection of data poses significant risks to renters' data security and privacy."
A renter's passport number and diverted mobile phone number were used to take over bank and superannuation accounts and begin making transfers. Millions of leasing documents held by rental platforms may be accessible online without authentication, exposing sensitive identifiers used for verification. Providing personal information is necessary for rental agreements, but collecting more data than required increases risks to renters' data security and privacy. Many renters lack understanding of where their data goes, who can access it, and whether it is used to build profiles or rankings of candidates. Rental platforms collect, store, share and link large volumes of data, creating emergent data relations that can amplify privacy harms.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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