Privacy Notice - Scottish Letting Agent Register

Privacy policy

This privacy policy explains what personal information we will collect in connection with an application to join the Scottish Letting Agent Register (the register) and how we will use this information. It also explains your rights to access the personal information we hold about you and how to make a complaint about the processing of your data.

Why are we collecting your personal information?

The Scottish Government is required by Part 4 of the Housing (Scotland) 2014 (2014 Act) to establish and maintain a register of letting agents. This aims to ensure that those in control of a business carrying out letting agency work are fit and proper persons and certain people in the business have met a minimum standard of training.

In order to consider an application to join the register, we are required to process the personal data provided in an application. The basis for processing this personal data is in accordance with Article 6(1)(c) and/or Article 6(1)(e) of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).

The Scottish Letting Agent Registration system is administered by the Scottish Government and hosted on this website by Registers of Scotland (RoS).

What information do we collect?

When a business applies to join the register, it is required by law to provide certain personal information about the persons in control of their business and those who are managing and supervising the running of the letting agency work. This information will be used to assess whether the business is a fit and proper person to carry out letting agency work and has met the minimum requirements for entry to the register.

For each of the people identified as being in control of the business, this includes the following personal information where supplied for business purposes:

• name and any previous names
• e-mail address
• date of birth
• residential address for the last five years
• details of certain unspent convictions, unlawful discrimination or breaches of housing law; landlord and tenant law; and the law relating to debt.^*

^*We may ask you to verify certain personal information you provide. If we require you to give us a criminal conviction certificate then we will inform you of the purpose of this request, how to obtain a certificate, how to send this certificate to us and how we will process such information.

For each individual listed in the application as managing and supervising the day to day running of the letting agency work, this includes the following personal information:

• name
• e-mail address
• job title and business role
• date and name of relevant qualification and training held by that person.

We also collect the following electronic information:

• for each visit to the website we will automatically collect the Internet protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer to the Internet
• we automatically issue cookies to users who enter the website. Read full details on our cookies policy page.

IP addresses and cookies do not in themselves identify individual users but identify only the computer used. We will not use any data we collect to identify any user personally.

How will we use your personal data?

Personal information that you give to us may be used in a number of ways, for example:

• to contact you if we require further information regarding your business’s application;
• to make a decision whether any person(s) in control of the business (as listed in the application) meet or continue to meet the conditions for entry to the register;
• to assess whether an applicant is a 'fit and proper' person to carry out letting agency work, Scottish Ministers may seek to verify details provided by an applicant, or an individual identified in an application for registration, with relevant organisations;
• to inform you of our decision on whether to approve or refuse the application;
• where the business is a sole trader, in their entry in the public Register; and
• to contact you at any point following your business’s entry to the register for related purposes.

By ‘related purposes’ we mean contacting you in connection with your entry on the register and/or updating you on what constitutes good practice as a registered letting agent. For example, to notify you of:

• when your legal duties as a letting agent change; and
• relevant policy changes proposed or implemented by Scottish Government and/or by other organisations.

We will not contact you for any purpose which does not have any relevance to your duties as a registered letting agent.

Payment information

The Scottish Government and RoS provides a service to process payments of application fees made online by debit or credit card (provided through STRIPE) and through invoicing. The Scottish Government will only have access to such information as is necessary to provide that service, and will only process that information for the purpose of providing that service.

How long will we keep your personal data for?

We will keep all personal details relating to an applicant’s registration for 7 years from the date of entry into the register. This will allow the registration team to check the accuracy of the information provided or previously provided should evidence to the contrary be found either during registration or re-registration (registration is for a 3 year period).

Personal information will also be kept where a registered letting agent’s registration is being reviewed or investigated until the end of that process.

Personal data of those included in an application that has been refused or where a registered letting agent has had their registration revoked will be kept for 10 years.

What if I don’t provide you with my personal data?

If your business wants to apply to join the register, then all individuals identified in an application must provide the personal information required by law. Failure to give the required statutory information may lead to your application being refused.

The consequences of not providing personal data (where required) may lead to delays in your business’s application being processed by us and affect your ability to legally operate as a letting agent.

You have the right to withdraw your application to register at any time prior to it being determined.

If you are currently registered, we will remove your entry on the register if you do not submit a further application prior to the expiry of your current three year registration period.

A person who carries out letting agency work while unregistered and without reasonable excuse commits a criminal offence under section 44 of the 2014 Act, and is liable, on summary conviction to up to 6 months imprisonment, £50,000 fine or both.

Will my personal information be shared?

To assess whether an applicant is a 'fit and proper' person to carry out letting agency work, Scottish Ministers may seek to verify details provided by them, or an individual identified in an application for registration, with relevant third party organisations. For example:

• professional bodies and membership organisations including the Law Society of Scotland, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, ARLA Propertymark
• qualification and training providers including Chartered Institute of Housing, Propertymark Qualifications, National Approved Lettings Scheme
• Local authorities
• Police Scotland

Where Scottish Ministers do wish to verify information you have provided with the relevant third party, a data sharing agreement will be established setting out what information will be shared and how we will share it.

Public register

If you are a sole trader and your application to the register is successful, then the following personal data will be made available on the public register as required by law.

• Your full name
• Your personal address (only if this is the same as your business address)
• Your phone number (if you have consented for this to be included in an entry to the register)

Any request for information other than what is available through the public register will be considered under Freedom of Information legislation. Information is exempt from being released under Freedom of Information if releasing it would breach the Data Protection Principles.

You can find out more about Freedom of Information from the Scottish Information Commissioner website, and about the Data Protection Principles from the UK Information Commissioner's Office website.

Should we refuse your application or revoke your registration, the following personal information will be made available to relevant local authorities and the general public as required by law:

• your name (only if you are a sole trader)
• your personal address (only if this is the same as your business address)

Correcting your information

We want to make sure that any personal data we hold about you is accurate. Once registered, your business has a legal duty under section 37(2) of the 2014 Act to notify Scottish Ministers of any changes to the information you, or any individual identified, in your application to the register. Failure to notify any changes without reasonable excuse is a criminal offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine up to £1,000.

Knowingly providing false information in an application is a criminal offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine up to £1,000.

You may make a request to correct or remove such other personal information held by us which you think is inaccurate. We will consider such requests in accordance with our functions under Part 4 of the 2014 Act and inform you of the outcome including providing the reasons why we have refused your request (if applicable).

Accessing your personal data – Subject Access Request (SAR)

You have the right to request a copy of the information that we hold about you. Information on how to request some or all of your personal information is available on the following link:

https://beta.gov.scot/publications/subject-access-request-form/

How to contact us

If you have any further questions about how your data is used by the Scottish Government in administering the Scottish Letting Agent Register, you can contact the Letting Agent Registration Team in the following ways.

E-mail: lettingagentregulation@gov.scot

Phone: 0300 244 6439

Post:

• Letting Agent Registration Team
• Scottish Government
• 1H South
• Victoria Quay
• Edinburgh
• EH5 3NT

If you have any questions about how the Registers of Scotland processes any of your data in relation to the hosting and technical support of the Scottish Letting Agent Registration system you can contact them in the following ways.

E-mail: LARSupport@ros.gov.uk

Phone: 0131 659 6111

Post:

• Letting Agents Register Service Team
• Meadowbank House
• 153 London Road
• Edinburgh
• EH8 7AU

Data Protection Officer

The Scottish Government’s Data Protection Officer can be contacted in the following ways.

E-mail: dpa@gov.scot

Phone: 0300 244 4000 – Central Enquiry Unit

Post:

• The Data Protection and Information Assets Team
• Information and Technology Services (iTECS)
• V Spur
• Saughton House
• Broomhouse Drive
• Edinburgh
• EH11 3XD

Complaints

If you feel we have been unable, or unwilling, to resolve your information rights concern, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). The ICO are the supervisory authority responsible for data protection in the UK.

For further information, including independent data protection advice and information in relation to your rights, you can contact the Information Commissioner Scotland Office at:

• The Information Commissioner's Office - Scotland
• 45 Melville Street
• Edinburgh
• EH3 7HL

E-mail: Scotland@ico.org.uk

Phone: 0303 123 1115

Website: www.ico.org.uk

You can also report any concerns here: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/handling/

Changes to this privacy policy

We keep this privacy policy under regular review and will place any updates on this website. This privacy policy was last updated on 25 May 2018.

Disclaimer

We seek to ensure that the information and help provided on this website is up to date and accurate. However, this information does not constitute legal or professional advice and the Scottish Government and RoS cannot accept any liability for actions arising from its use.