1Form – is this legal

Hi All

First time poster – please let me know if I am asking this in the right place.

We are currently applying for a rental in the ACT and many of the agencies there will only accept applications via the 1form website – paper based applications are seen as too much work for them.

So my question is in two parts as follows

Firstly I would think that this is discriminatory – if a prospective tenant does not have access or easy access to a computer then this is not a fair approach – does anybody else agree with this?

Secondly the amount of information requested is ludicrous – passport photo’s, three personal referees, past property purchases and rentals, etc. The site is free for both tenants and agents so the value comes from the tenants data – it would appear that your data becomes part of their marketing database when you have submitted it and your application has been processed as there is no opt out option – if you want to use the site then you are opting in however you have no choice – is this legal?

What options would I have if I did not want to use this site – if any?

Thanks

Steve