When people start looking for housing, they often have to share personal data, such as information from basic registries and income data. Increasingly, this process is done through apps, where the exchange of data is largely automated. The problem is that this happens without a uniform technical standard. As a result, citizens and housing providers find themselves in a system driven by the market. This often leads to citizens being forced to share personal information, without a clear legal framework that protects them from abuse and which doesn’t give house seekers control over what happens to their data. Moreover, many citizens are unaware of the existence and impact of these standards on their privacy and decisions that are important to them.
Currently, the technical standards for data exchange are set by companies offering these services. This has led to a maze of rules and systems, making it difficult for citizens to understand what happens to their data. They have little control over what information is shared and how it is used.
There is not yet a uniform standard for how public institutions share personal data with third parties. Moreover, there is no public standard that explicitly protects citizens' rights. This should, for example, record what data is available, who has access to it and for what purpose it is used.
In this project, Waag Futurelab investigates a new, participatory approach to develop standards for data sharing based on experiences and requirements of citizens. This research was supported by the Maatschappelijke coalitie Over Informatie Gesproken.
“I just want to have a house and if this is necessary, I will do it. I did find a lot of things weird. So, for example that they asked things like ‘are you planning to have children in the next five years?’”
Research report
Citizens are almost never involved when developing a process for data retrieval. It is usually assumed beforehand, that citizens mainly want privacy and during development a fictitious scenario is assumed. Furthermore, the development process is generally considered too technical to give citizens a role.
For the report No standardisation without participation, Danny Lämmerhirt and Isadora Dullaert interviewed tenants, buyers and rent allowance recipients about their experiences with submitting personal data and other personal data in their search for a house.
Download No standardization without participation
The survey shows that citizens currently do not know exactly what data is used and what is done with it. They also have no control over the data supplied. Citizens are put in a vulnerable position as they share more data than necessary and it can therefore be easily misused. What further undermines the citizen's position is the pressure of the housing market, which makes house hunters feel they have no choice but to simply supply the data so as not to further complicate their already difficult search.
"I wanted that house really badly. I was actually very scared that it would not happen. Because that had happened to me before with a house owned by a different cooperation [...]. So I was actually willing to... Well you can know everything about me, if I can have that house.”
The research led to the realisation that the guidelines for requesting and using personal data within the housing market are not always known and followed. For instance, sometimes very specific information is requested, such as hobbies and a full address history, without it being clear what impact a response has on the process. This lack of clarity leads to questions among citizens and a lack of transparency damages trust in the process of fair housing allocation.
On the basis of our findings the rapport provides policy makers and developers of data intermediaries with recommendations for improving data sharing setups.