This article addresses the legality of using a cloud-based system for storing strata scheme records.
Table of Contents:
- QUESTION: Our strata management company is introducing compulsory two-factor authentication (2FA) to access the online portal. Is compulsory two-factor authentication justified?
- QUESTION: Our committee autocratically adopted a cloud-based information management system. Are there any statutory or regulatory controls on the storage of strata records?
Question: Our strata management company is introducing compulsory two-factor authentication (2FA) to access the online portal. Is compulsory two-factor authentication justified?
Our strata management company is introducing compulsory two-factor authentication (2FA) to view documents in their online portal.
I will no longer be able to give my login and password to my family or helpers. It also means I have to share my private mobile number with my strata company, which is required for 2FA.
Given the scheme’s information is not private, is compulsory two-factor authentication justified? 2FA is usually used to stop financial crime and protect secrecy and privacy.
Answer: This authentication has likely been introduced as a security measure to protect the privacy of all owners.
This authentication has likely been introduced as a security measure to protect the privacy of all owners and to thwart unauthorised use of the owners corporation’s/owners’ private details. While the information recorded on a strata roll is accessible, it is not public, i.e. only persons authorised by owners may access such information. Having this two-factored authentication (especially with a text message or email to a secondary device) is not unusual in any industry.
Leanne Habib
Premium Strata
E: [email protected]
P: 02 9281 6440
This post appears in Strata News #726.
Question: Our committee autocratically adopted a cloud-based information management system. Are there any statutory or regulatory controls on the storage of strata records?
Our strata committee has autocratically adopted a cloud-based information management system for strata data/information. They self-elected the office bearers as the moderators/administrators. The decision was not voted on, owners were not advised, and the administrators were self-elected.
Are there any statutory or regulatory controls on the storage of strata records? We already have the strata manager’s system and strata information filing software.
Answer: The owners corporation may pass a resolution at a general meeting that the management and storage of the scheme’s records are to be managed as deemed appropriate, subject to the relevant legislative provisions, by the owners corporation.
An owners corporation is required to retain certain information, including the content of the strata roll, notices given by or to the owners corporation under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (the Act) and various items listed under Section 180 of the Act including minutes of meetings, financial statements and records, and agreements entered with strata managers and building managers. The records are required to be kept for 7 years (Section 180 of the Act).
In 2023, there was an amendment to the Act which stated the records required to be kept by an owners corporation must be kept in electronic form (Section 176 of the Act). This amendment does not apply to records created or kept 6 months before this amendment was made, and does not prevent a duplicate copy of the records being kept in another form.
The strata records are the property of the owners corporation, and the owners corporation has the responsibility for keeping the records for the strata scheme (Section 9(3)(b) of the Act). The strata manager and the strata committee may assist the owners corporation in carrying out its management functions (Section 11 of the Act).
A decision of the strata committee is taken to be a decision of the owners corporation. However, in the event of disagreement, a decision of the owners corporation prevails (Section 36(2) of the Act).
The decision in the question raised regarding the management of the strata records is a decision of a strata committee only. Therefore, if an owners corporation is concerned about the records being held in a management system controlled by the strata committee, the owners corporation may pass a resolution at a general meeting that the management and storage of the scheme’s records are to be managed as deemed appropriate, subject to the relevant legislative provisions, by the owners corporation.
I have not addressed any privacy issues that may arise from members of the strata committee holding the strata scheme’s records without consent.
Gerard Doyle
Bugden Allen Graham Lawyers
E: [email protected]
P: 02 9199 1055
This post appears in the September 2024 edition of The NSW Strata Magazine.
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This article does not constitute legal or other advice and should not be relied upon this way. Readers should take legal or other advice before applying the information contained in this publication.
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