The financial industry wants banks and other lenders to be able to share positive credit data for property mortgage loans, under a proposal to broaden the scope of a code of practice on privacy.
But the amount of positive mortgage data shared would be limited to the number of outstanding mortgages a loan applicant has, something the privacy chief supports.
'We are acting from the perspective of data protection,' Privacy Commissioner Allan Chiang Yam-wang said. 'Minimum disclosure and minimum use would enhance privacy. That's our standpoint.
'Data privacy is important and I guess from reading the industry proposals that they would actually follow up with the applicants for the mortgage loans ... to ask about the details of those outstanding mortgages. Once they know there is an X number of outstanding mortgages, they can look further into the details from the [actual] applicants.'
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data is holding a five-week public consultation, ending on February 8, to explore the privacy implications of the proposed changes to the Code of Practice on Consumer Credit Data.
Chiang said they sought to get views on whether the changes were necessary or excessive in terms of safeguarding personal data privacy.
