The real estate website Reas launched a new application with detailed data on recently sold properties, including the exact sale price. All data was purchased by the parent company Nexter from the land registry office in 2019. Photo credit: KK.
Czech Rep., Feb 20 (BD) – Nexter paid CZK 380,250 for the data, but the land registry office told Radiožurnál that the company had acted illegally and misused the data, which was intended for internal use in the real estate business, rather than publication online.
In its defence, Nexter said that the data it had published can easily be found on the Internet, and the application, Atlas cen [“Atlas of Prices”], simply aggregates them in one place.
“The data from the land registry which we have used for the Atlas has been available to everyone on the Internet for years – only private companies have to pay for it. ”
Michal Makoš, founder of Atlas of Prices
“The data from the land registry which we have used for the Atlas has been available to everyone on the Internet for years – only private companies have to pay for it. We have made the data available more clearly and for free,” said the project founder Michal Makoš in a press release.
He also pointed out the importance of the project for the real estate market in the Czech Republic: “Journalists tell us that thanks to the Atlas they have received several tips on the subject of unfair trading in state property. We are also getting feedback from people who are about to sell an apartment, who suddenly see that their broker has promised them prices inflated by tens of percent.” Makoš also stated that the land registry office has not yet contacted them.
The map originally included photos of some of the houses and apartments published in the register, and referred to the owners of the properties, but after media coverage this information was deleted, as publication of such data may pose a risk to property owners in terms of possible burglary and theft. The owners of the houses and flats were also worried about their privacy, as photos of the interiors were easily available to the public.
