The General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) will come into force in May 2018. The regulations will impose a new EU-wide system of regulating data protection and the UK Government has made it clear that, despite Brexit, the UK will be adopting these Regulations so that they will remain in force even after we leave the EU.

These Regulations strengthen existing UK Data Protection Legislation and build on it. They make significant changes around obtaining consent to process data and more stringent requirements about privacy notices, in particular. More stringent record keeping will be needed. The need to register/notify the Information Commissioner that you are processing personal data will however disappear but there will be higher penalties for non-compliance.

GDPR wasn’t designed with private landlords or people with second homes in mind. It was drafted to tackle some of the more egregious uses of personal data by tech giants such as Google and Facebook. Nevertheless, the legislation applies to all landlords and it is important to have a basic understanding of how and why.