post purchase - photos online

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azlana

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Hello everyone,
I have purchased a property and the photos and advert are still on the agent's website and Myhome.ie. If I ask for them to be removed (I don't like that anyone can see inside my new home) do they have any grounds to refuse my request?
Thanks in advance!!
 
What was in your contract with them? Presume it's just an oversight and they'll remove immediately.

The photos of my house were up for more than 3 years after buying. I liked browsing it from time to time to see what it looked like before we moved in.
 
azlana said:
If I ask for them to be removed (I don't like that anyone can see inside my new home) do they have any grounds to refuse my request?
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EAs leave it up as marketing so it appears like they sell more properties than they do.

If you make a request in writing for it to be taken down highly unlikely they will refuse.

In any case if anyone really wants to they'll always find it on archive.org.......
 
They’ve no grounds to refuse you. As you now own the premises, the pics are your personal data. They must remove the pics if you ask.
 
I’m not sure the pictures now become the personal data of the new owner. Surely they remain the property of the EA or whoever paid for them to be taken?

In any case they should take it down if you request them to do so
 
rustbucket said:
I’m not sure the pictures now become the personal data of the new owner. Surely they remain the property of the EA or whoever paid for them to be taken?

In any case they should take it down if you request them to do so
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I dont think its quite that simple.

EA may have paid for photos but if its photos of your home surely that is your own personal and very private data. And they should remove it very promtly.

Arent there laws supporting this?
 
But they are photos of a home prior to it being purchased. So technically they are photographs of the previous owners home
 
ArthurMcB said:
I dont think its quite that simple.

EA may have paid for photos but if its photos of your home surely that is your own personal and very private data. And they should remove it very promtly.

Arent there laws supporting this?
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Yes. GDPR.

The EA may have had propriety rights over the home photos when engaged by the Vendor, but those rights likely ceased/were superseded by GDPR when the ownership transferred to the new owners.

GDPR protects personal data relating to an individual which could identify an individual. Photos of your family home would constitute such personal data.

I requested the EA to take down the photos he had up online of my newly acquired home once the sale closed. I was concerned about any ne’er-do-goods having access to the site layout and internal details of my property.
 
NoRegretsCoyote said:
How on earth could photos of the interior of your home identify you?

This is a copyright issue, not a GDPR one.
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Some adverts do show floor plans. But its a grey area if, as in many cases, its simply photographed with no personal belongings in it, as GDPR relates to personal information. A house isn't personal information unless there is something in the advert that identifies the resident.
That said, its mostly myhome.ie that does this - daft seems to remove them pretty quickly. Its probably better that they get removed.

That also said, as a buyer its useful if adverts are available for a while after the purchase, because I was able to judge areas and property types where asking prices were being met by correlating to recent entries on the property price register. But of course I understand why folk might feel uncomfortable about strangers being able to see their home online.
 
NoRegretsCoyote said:
How on earth could photos of the interior of your home identify you?

This is a copyright issue, not a GDPR one.
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  • Personal data basically means any information about a living person, where that person either is identified or could be identified. Personal data can cover various types of information, such as name, date of birth, email address, phone number, address, physical characteristics, or location data – once it is clear to whom that information relates, or it is reasonably possible to find out.
www.dataprotection.ie

What are "personal data" and when are they "processed"? | Data Protection Commission

Personal data basically means any information about a living person, where
www.dataprotection.ie www.dataprotection.ie

If the pics show the exterior and reference the address, then that is captured by the bullet point above.
 
Johnno75 said:
If the pics show the exterior and reference the address, then that is captured by the bullet point above.
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Yes but photos of the interior of your house are not "about" you unless you are pictured in them, which you are not.

The address of the house you live in is not personal data unless it's linked to you which, again, in this case it's not.

Picture of the interior of your house do not allow anyone to identify anything about you. They are not your personal data.

For example architecture books are full of pictures of the insides of people's homes, in many cases identifiable homes if they are houses of architectural merit. If you buy a house which is featured in such a book can you instruct a library to take it off its shelves? Of course you can't.

This is not a GDPR issue whatsoever.
 
NoRegretsCoyote said:
Yes but photos of the interior of your house are not "about" you unless you are pictured in them, which you are not.

The address of the house you live in is not personal data unless it's linked to you which, again, in this case it's not.

Picture of the interior of your house do not allow anyone to identify anything about you. They are not your personal data.

For example architecture books are full of pictures of the insides of people's homes, in many cases identifiable homes if they are houses of architectural merit. If you buy a house which is featured in such a book can you instruct a library to take it off its shelves? Of course you can't.

This is not a GDPR issue whatsoever.
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Wrong, I’m afraid.

Whilst the OP did mention the interior, I never mentioned anything about the “interior” of the property.

Go and have a look at the Data Protection Commission website which I’ve provided a link to.

If the address and pictures of a house I’ve purchased are online, they now constitute my personal data if they can lead to my identification. That gives me certain rights under GDPR. Including the right to request the data controller (the EA) to delete the pictures.
 
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Johnno75 said:
Wrong, I’m afraid.

Whilst the OP did mention the interior, I never mentioned anything about the “interior” of the property.

Go and have a look at the Data Protection Commission website which I’ve provided a link to.

If the address and pictures of a house I’ve purchased are online, they now constitute my personal data if they can lead to my identification. That gives me certain rights under GDPR. Including the right to request the data controller (the EA) to delete the pictures.
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They were not your personal data when they were published.

Would you now have to request that the details on the property price register are removed also? This includes address and price paid (that’s more personal in my opinion)

If you buy a car do you now have the right to request that any pictures the previous owner had online are removed?

I don’t think GDPR does include or was meant to include any of the above.
 
rustbucket said:
They were not your personal data when they were published.
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Correct. They weren’t. But they are now. And if they remain published post-sale, the new owner has a right to request their removal as the EA no longer has any valid reason to continue to publicise the data.

I don’t think people really realise how strong GDPR law is in terms of protection of persons’ data.

The PPR is a lawful register grounded in statute, so the information there is permissible to be held. An EA continuing to publish photos and the address of a sold property is not permissible if the data subject objects.
 
GDPR or not, surely its an invasion of your privacy and something that most people would be uncomfortbale with - having the inside and outside of your property (photos and oft times videos) splattered across the internet (daft, youtube etc).

The data subject is you, the home owner. And the data subject would have strong grounds to object amd demand removal.
 
That's a new out-there GDPR take. I thought I had heard them all at this stage but obviously not so. Photos of a sitting room are not "personal data". The sitting room is in fact inanimate and cannot be classified as a data subject under the law, even if published with an address. A living person cannot be identified by an address without some other linked data. They definitely can't be identified by the carpet in their bedroom.

In any event they should take them down no bother.
 
24601 said:
Photos of a sitting room are not "personal data
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So you re saying that photos,published on the internet, of the outside of someones family home, with their address tagged to it - is not their personal data?

Why not? If their phone number is their personal data then i dont see why the above isnt.

If what you are saying is correct,then I would think it should be classified as personal data.
 
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