Jason (30) was excluded by an algorithm

I had a feeling something was wrong

I created a profile, had to give them a lot of personal data, and always pressed the button to request a viewing of a nice home. And then… I never heard anything.

I understand there are going to be many interested people, but this was extreme. A friend also responded to this property manager about homes in our city, and he was able to go for a viewing several times. After months of trying, I honestly started to feel something was wrong. 

That suspicion became even stronger when I saw something in the news about rental companies that screen or select potential tenants in a certain way. I couldn't really find anything about it on the property manager's website.

I called the company and was told that I didn't meet the requirements. I didn't understand. Apparently my application kept ending up in the 'rejected' pile. But why? They couldn't tell me. 

I kept missing out due to a small error. And no one noticed

A colleague said maybe I could make an access request to find out more. I found a sample letter online to send to the rental company with the tip of asking whether the company applied 'automated decision-making'. In other words: perhaps something was decided by a computer, as a result of which I was not offered any homes.

Fortunately, I received a response quite quickly. They said that my data were processed with special software that classified potential tenants based on their data. There was probably an error, which meant my income was not included correctly. That's why I was missing out all the time. And because the first selection of candidates was done by computer, no one at the company noticed. And of course I couldn't see it myself.

You have no idea what factors in and how

Who knows how many more people were constantly being rejected unfairly! They should also look at the registrations themselves, instead of leaving everything to the software. Especially since, as a house hunter, you have to provide so much data just to qualify for a viewing: from your marital status and employment contract to your pets and savings. And you have no idea what factors into the algorithm's decision and how.

I've not received an answer from the company when asked whether they want to change their approach. I'm therefore considering submitting a complaint to the Dutch Data Protection Authority.

Algorithms can be very useful for a company, I understand that. But it really hampered me. It wasn't fair. Fortunately, I eventually found a home through another landlord. Still, it left me with an unpleasant feeling. And now I also wonder about other things: do I suddenly have a certain status that I don't know about because of an error?

* The privacy stories on this website are based on actual reports to the Dutch Data Protection Authority. Due to the privacy of those involved, the personal data and some circumstances have been changed. We use models (stock photography) for the images in these stories.