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An agency in Sydney’s south has been ordered to apologise after revealing a tenant’s personal details in a response to an online review.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has determined that a real estate agent who exposed a tenant’s personal details online broke several privacy laws.
The incident investigated by Australia’s information commission began after a tenant who left a one-star Google review on the business page of Noonan Real Estate Agency in 2021 had his full name, occupation and financial circumstances publicly shared in a response by the business.
In the review, the tenant described the agency as “highly unprofessional” and questioned the authenticity of the agency’s five-star reviews while criticising the business for taking longer than “three full days” to resolve an emergency maintenance issue.
Responding to this comment, the agency addressed the tenant by his full name, stating that “none of our five-star reviews are fake” and reaffirmed the business’s compliance with the “relevant legislation”.
Noonan Real Estate Agency also stated it would “not be apologising” for its attempts to secure allegedly “unpaid rent” from the tenant before then divulging personal details of the tenant, including his full first and last name and occupation.
“You work as an accountant according to your LinkedIn profile, and as an accountant you should know how to pay rent on time,” the response read in part.
The tenant subsequently sent a privacy complaint by email to the agency, requesting that the business “remove my information from the Google review and public access” and pay him compensation of $15,000.
Although the agency removed the tenant’s first name from the response “within a few hours” of receiving the privacy complaint, it did not take immediate action to delete the tenant’s surname.
As a result, the tenant filed a formal complaint to OAIC, alleging that Noonan Real Estate Agency had breached several privacy laws.
After reviewing the matter, the OAIC found that the agency had violated the Privacy Act 1988 by improperly sharing the tenant’s personal information.
The commission reasoned that the agency’s status as a “private real estate business” would require the “handling of personal information such as its clients’ names, contact details and financial information, and may also include sensitive information, such as its clients’ gender and health information”.
Despite the tenant and agency providing differing accounts regarding the timing of the response’s removal, the commission stated it was “satisfied that the Google review response was removed by mid-2022”.
Although the commission did not grant the tenant’s request for $15,000 in compensation, it ordered that Noonan Real Estate Agency “must issue a written apology to the complainant within 30 days of the determination, acknowledging that it has interfered with the complainant’s privacy”.
The agency informed the OAIC that it is implementing “regular training for its staff on privacy compliance and complaint handling”. Most recently, in October 2024, an external law firm was stated to have delivered privacy training to the agency’s staff.
OAIC determinations support officer, Shree Parajuli, stated that the decision “highlights the importance of safeguarding personal information, even when responding to public feedback or criticism”.
Parajuli further noted that service providers such as real estate agencies must “navigate the fine line between addressing customer concerns and respecting privacy laws”, in ensuring that personal information is used “strictly for its intended purpose”.
“This decision serves as a reminder that the improper disclosure of personal information, especially in public forums, can lead to regulatory action,” Parajuli said.
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