Welcome to Rent4sure Ltd's privacy notice. Rent4sure Ltd shall be referred to as “Rent4sure”, “we”, “us”, “our” throughout this privacy notice.
Rent4sure respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy notice will inform you as to how we collect, use, handle and disclose your personal data, as well as telling you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you. If you need any more information about our data protection practices, please contact us using the details below.
This privacy notice is provided in a layered format so you can click through to the specific areas set out below. Please also use the Glossary to understand the meaning of some of the terms used in this privacy notice.
This privacy notice aims to give you information on how Rent4sure collects and processes your personal data, including any data that you may provide through your use of this website, for example when you provide information in connection with a reference, purchase or use a product or service, register or log-in to your account, obtain a quote or make an enquiry. The information that Rent4sure collects about you will depend on whether you are a tenant, guarantor, agent, private landlord or referee. “Personal data” is explained in further detail in paragraph 3 below.
This website is not intended for children and we do not knowingly collect data relating to children.
It is important that you read this privacy notice together with any other privacy notice or fair processing notice we may provide on specific occasions when we are collecting or processing personal data about you so that you are fully aware of how and why we are using your data. This privacy notice supplements the other notices and is not intended to override them.
Rent4sure is the controller and responsible for your personal data.
We have appointed a Data Protection Officer who is responsible for overseeing questions in relation to this privacy notice. If you have any questions about this privacy notice, including any requests to exercise your legal rights (see paragraph 10 below), please contact the Data Protection Officer using the details set out below.
Rent4sure Ltd is a subsidiary of PIB Group Limited
Our Data Protection Officer can be contacted directly here:
Data Protection Officer
PIB Group Limited
1 Minster Court
Mincing Lane
London, EC3R 7AA
dpo@pib-insurance.com
0330 058 9700
You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk).
This version was last updated on 15 October 2021.
We keep this privacy notice under regular review and may amend it from time to time. Please check back regularly to view the latest version. Hard copies of this privacy notice are available from us on request.
It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us.
Our website may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave our website, we encourage you to read the privacy notice of every website you visit.
Rent4sure adheres to the principles set out in data protection legislation when handling personal data. These principles require personal data to be:
We are also responsible and accountable for ensuring that we can demonstrate compliance with the data protection principles listed above.
“Personal data”, or “personal information”, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data).
We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal data about you. The personal data that we may collect in the first instance will depend on whether you are a tenant, a guarantor, an agent, a private landlord or a referee. As an overview, we have grouped together the personal data that we may collect, use, store and transfer as follows:
We also collect, use and share Aggregated Data such as statistical or demographic data for any purpose. Aggregated Data may be derived from your personal data but is not considered personal data in law as this data does not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. For example, we may aggregate your Usage Data to calculate the percentage of users accessing a specific website feature. However, if we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your personal data so that it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as personal data which will be used in accordance with this privacy notice.
We do not knowingly or actively collect any Special Categories of Personal Data about you (this includes details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, information about your health and genetic and biometric data). Nor do we knowingly or actively collect any information about criminal convictions and offences.
However, it should be noted that letting agents and landlords have the ability to request additional, bespoke information through dynamic forms, over which we have no control. As such, whilst we use our best endeavours to prevent collection of Special Categories of Personal Data or criminal convictions, there is a possibility that letting agents or landlords will request this type of information about a tenant or guarantor without our knowledge through our website. In these circumstances, we will use all reasonable endeavours to delete the Special Categories of Personal Data or information about criminal convictions, where possible.
Where we need to collect personal data by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you or, in the case of tenants, our contract with the agent or private landlord and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the services or contract we have or are trying to enter into with you. For example, if a tenant or guarantor fails to provide the information required to carry out the reference, we will not be able to produce a reference report, which is likely to mean that you cannot rent the property.
Please note that if you are a referee, you are under no obligation to provide a reference if you do not wish to do so, but please note that if you refuse, this may be noted on the final reference report.
We use different methods to collect data from and about you including through:
We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal data in the following circumstances:
See below to find out more about the types of lawful basis that we will rely on to process your personal data.
Generally we do not rely on consent as a legal basis for processing your personal data other than in relation to sending third party direct marketing communications to you via email or text message. You have the right to withdraw consent to marketing at any time by contacting us.
We have set out below, in a table format, a description of all the ways we plan to use your personal data, and which of the legal bases we rely on to do so. You will see from the table below that the ways that we use your personal data may in some circumstances depend on whether you are a tenant, guarantor, agent, private landlord, referee or general user of our website. We have also identified what our legitimate interests are where appropriate.
Note that we may process your personal data for more than one lawful ground depending on the specific purpose for which we are using your data and depending on whether you are a tenant, guarantor, letting agent, private landlord or referee. Please contact us if you need details about the specific legal ground we are relying on to process your personal data where more than one ground has been set out in the table below.
| Purpose/Activity | Type of data | Lawful basis for processing including basis of legitimate interest |
|---|---|---|
| To undertake a credit check and/or full reference and/or produce a reference report (including using your personal data to contact, where applicable, your current and former landlords, your current and former employer, other referees and credit reference agencies) (Tenants and guarantors only) |
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Necessary for the legitimate interests of the agent or private landlord who instructs us (or such other lawful basis as the agent or private landlord shall determine) |
| To register you as a new customer, including allowing you to register and log-in to your account with us (Agents and private landlords only) |
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| To contact you to obtain a reference or other information about an applicant tenant or guarantor in order to compile our reference report on the applicant tenant or guarantor (Referees only) |
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Necessary for our legitimate interests and the legitimate interests of the agent or private landlord who instructs us (or such other lawful basis as the agent or private landlord shall determine) |
To process your order and provide the services including:
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| To record your telephone call for the purpose of providing training to staff, monitoring quality control and dealing with any complaints |
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To manage our relationship with you which will include:
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| To administer and protect our business and this website (including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, system maintenance, support, reporting and hosting of data) |
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| To deliver relevant website content and advertisements to you and measure or understand the effectiveness of the advertising we publish to you |
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Necessary for our legitimate interests (to assess how customers use our website and services, to develop them, to grow our business and to inform our marketing strategy) |
| To use data analytics to improve our website, products and services, marketing, customer relationships and experiences |
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Necessary for our legitimate interests (to define types of customers for our products and services, to keep our website updated and relevant, to develop our business and to inform our marketing strategy) |
| To make suggestions and recommendations to you about goods and/or services that may be of interest to you (including third party goods and/or services) |
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We strive to provide you with choices regarding certain personal data uses, particularly around marketing and advertising.
We may use your Identity, Contact, Transaction, Technical, Usage and Profile Data to form a view on what we think you may want or need, or what may be of interest to you. This is how we decide which products, services and offers may be relevant for you.
Tenants and guarantors: During the course of preparing your reference report, we may ask for your consent to use your contact details to send you information about products or services that may be of interest to you, such as broadband, utilities and insurance products for your new property (if successful in your application). We will only do so where we have obtained your freely-given, informed, specific and unambiguous opt-in consent. Where we ask for your consent verbally, we shall ensure that it is recorded accurately so that we can identify how and when you gave consent. If you have agreed that we may do so, we will also share your contact details with third parties (such as providers of broadband, utilities and insurance products). Please see paragraph 6 for further details.
Letting agents and private landlords: We may contact you from time to time about other products and services that we offer, together with updates and news on Rent4sure. We have a legitimate interest in doing so, namely for the commercial benefit of developing and expanding our business. In these circumstances, we will not ask for your consent, but you have the right to opt-out of marketing messages at any time.
Referees: We will not use your details for marketing purposes unless with your express prior opt-in consent.
Regardless of whether you are a tenant, guarantor, agent, private landlord or referee, you can ask us or third parties to stop sending you marketing messages at any time by using the unsubscribe function in the e-mail or by otherwise contacting us at any time.
Where you opt out of receiving these marketing messages, this will not apply to personal data provided to us as a result of a product/service purchase or other transactions with us. For example, we will continue to contact agents and private landlords regarding the reference report that we are instructed to prepare.
We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If you wish to get an explanation as to how the processing for the new purpose is compatible with the original purpose, please contact us.
If we need to use your personal data for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.
Please note that we may process your personal data without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law.
We may have to share your personal data with the parties set out below for the purposes set out in the table in paragraph 5 above:
If you are taking insurance from Rent4sure Ltd or any other subsidiary of PIB Group Limited, more detailed information specifically on how the insurance market works and transfers data, is available from the London Insurance Market Core Uses Information Notice available at https://www.pibgroup.co.uk/core-uses
We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.
Your data will be held securely in the UK and the EEA. Any other data processing outside of these geographical areas will be undertaken only in locations that are covered by UK data protection adequacy regulations or where UK GDPR compliant appropriate safeguards are in place.
We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.
We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.
We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.
Details of retention periods for different aspects of your personal data are available on request by contacting us.
Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data. Please click on the links below to find out more about these rights:
If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact your letting agent or landlord in the first instance.
Legitimate Interest means the interest of our business in conducting and managing our business to enable us to give you the best service/product and the best and most secure experience. We make sure we consider and balance any potential impact on you (both positive and negative) and your rights before we process your personal data for our legitimate interests. We do not use your personal data for activities where our interests are overridden by the impact on you (unless we have your consent or are otherwise required or permitted to by law). You can obtain further information about how we assess our legitimate interests against any potential impact on you in respect of specific activities by contacting us
Performance of Contract means processing your data where it is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party or to take steps at your request before entering into such a contract.
Comply with a legal or regulatory obligation means processing your personal data where it is necessary for compliance with a legal or regulatory obligation that we are subject to.
You have the right to:
Request access to your personal data (commonly known as a "data subject access request"). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.
Request correction of the personal data that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate data we hold about you corrected, though we may need to verify the accuracy of the new data you provide to us.
Request erasure of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal data where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal data where you have successfully exercised your right to object to processing (see below), where we may have processed your information unlawfully or where we are required to erase your personal data to comply with local law. Note, however, that we may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons which will be notified to you, if applicable, at the time of your request.
Object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground as you feel it impacts on your fundamental rights and freedoms. You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes. In some cases, we may demonstrate that we have compelling legitimate grounds to process your information which override your rights and freedoms.
Request restriction of processing of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of your personal data in the following scenarios: (a) if you want us to establish the data's accuracy; (b) where our use of the data is unlawful but you do not want us to erase it; (c) where you need us to hold the data even if we no longer require it as you need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims; or (d) you have objected to our use of your data but we need to verify whether we have overriding legitimate grounds to use it.
Request the transfer of your personal data to you or to a third party. We will provide to you, or a third party you have chosen, your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format. Note that this right only applies to automated information which you initially provided consent for us to use or where we used the information to perform a contract with you.
Withdraw consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your personal data. However, this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you. We will advise you if this is the case at the time you withdraw your consent.