About a third of people in NSW rent their homes and the state government has estimated that about 187,000 pieces of identification information were collected from renters in the state every week, from requiring personal photos and social media account details to revealing the number of tattoos an applicant had.
If the bill passes parliament, a standard rental application form will be introduced to clarify what information can and can not be collected.
cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/31977851
The New South Wales tenants union has called for nationwide reforms to crack down on misleading rental advertisements after the state government introduced new laws in response to the growing use of artificial intelligence in real estate.
The legislation, announced on Sunday, will require mandatory disclosure when images in rental advertisements have been altered to conceal faults and mislead rental applicants.
The state government cited examples of real estate agents using artificially generated furniture that showed a double bed in a bedroom that was only large enough to fit a single in listings, or digitally modifying photos to obscure property damage.
This feels like a law that should have been put in place like 30 years ago lol. Digital photomanipulation has been possible for a long time. Including tools like Photoshop’s “content aware fill” feature that has been around for about 15 years, and could be used to conceal faults in photos with a few clicks by users with no experience.
Oh well! Better late than never I suppose.