Property marketing – keeping personal data protected

Property marketing – keeping personal data protected

This article was originally published with Estate Agent Today on 25th May 2021. After a recent incident involving an Estate Agent based in Devon in which a property virtual tour they published revealed a startling amount of their client’s personal information, market attention has been focused on security and personal data in relation to technology-led marketing tools, such as virtual tours, which are capable of capturing extensive detail within a space. Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation Estate Agents are deemed as the Data Controller and therefore responsible for protecting the privacy of their customers’ data. Estate Agents using virtual tours need to ensure that this kind of security breach does not happen and at the same time protect their business from potential law enforcement or reputational damage. Virtual tours and data security Estate Agents who choose to produce virtual tours in-house, where a vendor or the agency staff create the tour themselves are more vulnerable to data security breaches, as they are often less experienced to spot and prevent potential exposure. Likewise, if the Agent outsources the virtual tour to a self-employed or freelance provider, they should take into consideration whether appropriate measures are in place to provide data protection, or if any extra time is required to deliver security checks. Working with a larger established service provider, who have more resource and experience is probably the safest option, as security protocols should already be in place. Before choosing to work with any third-party, Agents should carry out their own due diligence on the provider to find out what safeguarding processes are in place to prevent data security incidents. Good service providers will take precautionary measures, such as issuing property preparation guidelines to homeowners prior to a photography shoot. Not only should this include hints and tips on how to prepare the property, removing clutter, personal and valuable items, but it should also request that the homeowner put away anything that could lead to a breach of their personal data, items such as bank statements and bills, or medication and prescriptions. At CoreLogic data security is in our DNA and integral to everything we do, we take a 3-step process to give our clients’ peace of mind, that their customers are in safe hands. It starts at the initial appointment booking, where we issue out clear property preparation guidance, including measures to protect personal data. Secondly, we employ professionally trained and experienced virtual tour photographers, who carry out visual checks on the day, before commencing with the photography shoot. Finally, our creative team will always ensure that any personally identifiable items that might have been unavoidably captured, such as family portraits are obscured (faces blurred) before the final virtual tour is published. The result is a polished, professional, and de-personalised “data safe” virtual property tour. Don’t get caught out and keep your customers personal data protected! If you would like to know about more about CoreLogic’s 3D Virtual Tours or book a demonstration, please get in touch with sales@ehouse.co.uk

by Holly Baker

CoreLogic | ehouse launch improved national drone service

CoreLogic | ehouse launch improved national drone service

We are excited to introduce our new national drone photography service, which has much more affordable pricing structure starting from just £89 + VAT for residential properties, which includes a variety of elevated angled shots and birds-eye views. Drone technology has been around for many years, but new developments with hardware and changes to legislation have made it more feasible for us to upscale our operations and significantly reduce costs, whilst retaining the quality and flexibility of our drone service. We have recently invested in new drone technology, equipping the majority of our photographers across the UK with high quality devices that produce 4K HDR Photography and high-resolution Video. Our new drones can fly up to 400ft/120m and withstand 25mph winds, allowing our photographers to capture a birds-eye view of the entire property, land boundaries and the surrounding area, or just get over that annoying hedge or tree to best demonstrate the setting of the property. As a serious supplier to the UK property industry you can rest assured that we operate in accordance with Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Drone Legislation allowing us to fly safely and legally across the UK and all our drone photographers hold the relevant qualifications required to fly. In addition, we hold specialist drone liability insurance just in case anything did go wrong. Our experienced drone team will perform site risk assessments before each job, establish if there are flight restriction zones within the area and if so liaise with the appropriate bodies to gain permission to fly, check the surroundings for potential safety hazards, plan take-off and landing zones and address privacy issues, in respect of neighbouring land and property. We have drones located in Inverness through to Newquay and everywhere in between, meaning we can be at your clients’ properties quickly. Ben Fillmore, Managing Director at CoreLogic | ehouse commented: “We’ve seen a real desire to use drone photography and video in recent years, but it has often been an expensive addition to the overall marketing cost. Being able to deliver this service for a much more affordable price presents a fantastic opportunity for those agents wanting to get the best angle for the properties they are selling.”

by Holly Baker