Is This App a Breach of Privacy?
By Val
@valmnz (17095)
New Zealand
May 23, 2016 11:36pm CST
I believe strongly that a person's financial status is entirely their own concern, and is nobody else's business unless they choose to disclose it.
Consequently, when I read today of an app being launched here in New Zealand I was somewhat taken aback. This app enables people to find out how much their neighbours sold their house for, or how much they paid to buy a new house. I can understand government valuation prices being revealed, but sales prices?
Surely this is a breach of privacy, unless people have signed an agreement to reveal such information?
I'm not in the real estate market myself at the moment, but I can see this information causing stress for many people who don't wish to disclose how they spend their money.
What do you think? Is this a breach of privacy? Does a similar thing happen in other countries?
16 people like this
19 responses
@crazyhorseladycx (39503)
• United States
24 May 16
sadly, such's available to the public here'n the u.s. all a person's gotta do's look'n the public records. i'd ne'er thought'f such 'til a gal'n the highway was tellin' me 'bout her snoopin' :(
2 people like this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
24 May 16
Pretty intrusive though quite a few websites access estate agents files and give out house value / price details for many housing areas in the UK
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
24 May 16
@valmnz most neighbors on estates of identikit housing will have houses of similar design or value unless some add extention work, build patios and pools, etc.
1 person likes this
@valmnz (17095)
• New Zealand
24 May 16
@arthurchappell a lot of our hpusing here is built by independent builders, giving quite a bit of individuality within a street or suburb.
1 person likes this
@yukimori (10192)
• United States
24 May 16
Such things are public record where I'm located, so it doesn't seem like a breach of privacy to me. Many times Realtors here will use 'comps' and prices of similar properties in the same area to determine an appropriate selling price for a property or home. The local government keeps records of all sales prices and transfers of ownership, and most counties' records are searchable online. They include things such as sale dates, prices, and even annual taxation information along with the property owner's name and address.
2 people like this
@sunrisefan (28524)
• Philippines
24 May 16
It seems it's a breach indeed, Ms. Val. BTW, your photo shows the typical type of roof overhang in NZ homes. That's one of the things that caught my attention there - your roof overhangs are only about a foot. Ours here in our country is about a meter wide. So, when it rains, the water will have the tendency to seep into the windows.
1 person likes this
@valmnz (17095)
• New Zealand
24 May 16
@sunrisefan I guess it depends on the age of the house and where in the country 
1 person likes this
@sunrisefan (28524)
• Philippines
24 May 16
@valmnz But many of the houses I've seen there have similar overhangs to that :) Anyway, I'm straying away from your topic hahaha! Sorry :)
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (189927)
• Boise, Idaho
24 May 16
It would be nice to know if you are putting your house on the market. I think it is a breach of privacy.
1 person likes this
@topffer (42155)
• France
24 May 16
It is publicly available here and I do not see this like a breach of privacy : it is a useful information to know the price of houses in a given area when you want to buy or sell a house. Speaking of a breach of privacy, anybody here can go to the tax office and ask to see your tax report. It is only forbidden to publish it in a media.
1 person likes this
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
24 May 16
if the app can access the numbers, then I am guessing those are a matter of record. I know that one can easily find in america what a house was bought and sold for, it affects neighborhood pricing, having an app compile that isn't too far a stretch. Seems private, but it's really not
1 person likes this
@jillybean1222 (6406)
•
24 May 16
I have seen that it usually is easy to find out what houses sell for here too in the us.... I would think it would be private too, but yeah, i think it's public record.
1 person likes this
@just4him (323168)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
25 May 16
I don't know if it would be a breach of privacy. The sale price for the house would be clearly listed for all to see. So people would know the person buying it would have spent that much for the house or what the counter offer was when sold. It doesn't sound like the app is divulging any private information found only in the person's bank account. I could be wrong, but that's what I see from what you've written.
1 person likes this
@bwjsdems (496)
• New Zealand
24 May 16
I think it must be the way they word the article as previous sale values of a property are available on the QV site - but it's property information not personal information. If you want to get the legal owners name or the sale price (if it is less than about 6 months ) you have to pay for it. Real estate agents provide sales prices for similar types of properties when they do a valuation.
1 person likes this
@cheerfulnuts (604)
• Philippines
24 May 16
I haven't heard of them, and I think we don't have apps like that in my country. What is the app for, and why would anyone need an app like that? I wouldn't be comfortable about it too. I agree that it's a breach of privacy.
1 person likes this
@Jackalyn (7558)
• Oxford, England
24 May 16
I think most of this information is already available online. I found this out when doing my family tree. It was interesting to see how much the houses of my ancestors gained in value.
I am going to ask my sister who coincidentally has the status of being one of the top NZ newsagents what she thinks.
I agree though that it does seem wring as it tells you about someone's financial status.
1 person likes this
