Tenant feels violated after landlord took 162 pictures of her home without permission, put them on internet
Regina landlord apologizes for ‘invasion’ of tenant's privacy
Katharina Maier was surprised when she learned her landlord was coming for a home inspection just three months after she, her husband and their children moved in.
She was even more shocked later when she found more than 160 pictures of her home, some of which included photos of her children, on a website with no password protection.
Maier said the inspector for Kodiak Property Management who showed up on April 10 "took a total of 162 pictures including of my children's rooms, the bathrooms, inside the toilet."
I do deeply apologize for the miscommunication along with the invasion of privacy at your property.- Austin Arguin - Kodiak Property Management
Maier said she has no difficulty with landlords inspecting their properties, but she said she's been renting properties for 12 years and has never seen anything like this.
"I was concerned because I have personal items lying around. I have pictures of my children upstairs that are included in the photographs," Maier told CBC. "I was concerned that I didn't give my permission. I felt this was a real invasion of privacy."
To bolster her point, Maier pointed to a quote on the website of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
"Taking photographs of an individual's apartment or rental unit is a collection of personal information. The landlord must identify the purpose prior to, or at the time of, collection, and also obtain your consent. The landlord must also make a reasonable effort to ensure that you understand how the information will be used or disclosed."
Maier said Kodiak failed to follow that guidance.
Inspection photos being stored online
During the April 10 home inspection, Maier's husband, who was home at the time, noticed the inspector seemed to be taking a lot of photos and was caught off-guard. When he asked the inspector what was going on, he was told it was for insurance purposes.
They learned that the report's photos had been stored online and was going to be shared with the owner of the home, whose identity is unknown to the couple.
I don't think anyone deserves to have their privacy infringed on like that and every person has a reasonable expectation of privacy.- Katharina Maier - Tenant
Maier noticed that when she clicked on the photos in the report, she was brought to a website. The pictures were stored there without any password protection.
"We could see that the pictures were linked to an online amazon platform so when you click on the picture it gets you to the website where it's stored," she said.
Security system also raises alarm
This incident triggered concerns for her about a security system that is monitoring the home.
There's a video camera trained on the front door to see who's coming or going, and Maier worried the owner of the house has access to view it.
"I'm sure he doesn't have a genuine interest in monitoring my movements every time I leave the house, but potentially he has access to it," said Maier.
She complained to Kodiak that because she doesn't have administrative control of the security system "we have no control over when these cameras record, what they record, how long these save this data or even if there are more cameras installed that we are unaware of."
In response, the company says it asked the owner of the home about his level of access.
Kodiak property manager Austin Arguin said neither the company nor the owner of the property have access to the feed from the camera.
Maier is unpersuaded and said she would prefer to have the system removed altogether.
Property manager apologizes
Arguin responded quickly to Maier's other complaints too.
"I do deeply apologize for the miscommunication along with the invasion of privacy at your property," he wrote to Maier on April 11, the day after the inspection. "We do in fact require written permission prior to taking photos."
Arguin response to Maier gave an explanation for what happened.
"This was an employee that was filling in for our inspector that day, and was overzealous, only trying to accomplish the best job that he could by doing an extremely thorough inspection," he wrote.
Maier said she's happy with the apology but still puzzled. She wonders if the mistake was that the company forgot to get her permission first or if the photos never should have been taken in the first place.
She doubts the inspector himself came up with the idea of taking photos. She also said Kodiak hasn't made clear whether it plans to take another series of photos at the next three-month inspection.
The company hasn't responded to CBC's request for an interview.
In an email, Arguin told Maier the report would be deleted immediately.
"I've completely erased this inspection from the tech's Ipad, Buildium, Happy inspector, as well as did not upload it to the owner's access portal. I will be deleting this email shortly after sending this," he said.
Maier told CBC the photos were still accessible online at publication time.
Maier concerned about 'surveillance society'
This isn't just a personal concern for Maier. She's a criminologist at the University of Regina and part of her work is focused on how surveillance is spreading in our society.
"We talk a lot about surveillance and the way in which surveillance has expanded and proliferated in society in all kinds of domains and of course surveillance in the home is something that we're thinking about," she said,
"If you're a tenant you're not in a position of power."
She worries that some tenants may think this sort of behaviour is normal and simply accept it.
"I don't think anyone deserves to have their privacy infringed on like that and every person has a reasonable expectation of privacy regardless of whether you're renting a place or you're owning a place that's a basic right," she said.
Ironically, these issues have popped up in her professional life in just the last week.
Earlier this week CBC reported that during final exams, the University of Regina plans to video record students in order to catch cheaters.
She said these sorts of decisions, while being made for laudable reasons, can have unintended consequences.
"What kind of university are we going to? What kind of relationships do we have between landlords and tenants?" she asked. "I personally don't think that's a way to build trusting relationships between a tenant and a landlord because it destroys trust."
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