Product Roundup: Lifull, Rightmove, Zoopla, Wikicasa

This week's product roundup starts controversially with a data leak in Japan...

Lifull apologises for data leak by unauthorised party

Lifull released a statement yesterday saying it discovered unauthorised access to one of its servers owned by its asset Kenbiya, a business it acquired in 2020.

Lifull said it could not confirm whether a breach took place, but it has now blocked external access to this server in response to the potential hack. The company said it has already identified the cause of the incident and implemented measures to address it.

Lifull said the backups of the server may have been accessed by a third party, allowing them access to information registered by users of Kenbiya services.

Information that may have been viewed could extend as far as names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, annual income and assets for any user registered with Kenbiya. More than 178,000 people could have been affected.

Corporate customers may have had a full suite of data including their user ID, password, representative name, name of person in charge, phone number, email address, email address for inquiries, name of person in charge of billing, and more. This could affect up to nearly 8000 registered clients.

Lifull said:

"We take this incident very seriously and will further strengthen our operations, such as managing where various information is stored and access rights, as well as internal training, to prevent a similar incident from occurring again."

Rightmove adds renovation calculator to its Online Valuation tool

Rightmove has launched a renovation calculator to its instant online valuation tool.

The new tool comes as a response to user feedback, whereby users wanted more information about the potential impact of improvements such as extensions and loft conversions.

The tool can be used after a user requests an instant valuation of their home. Using the information delivered by the instant valuation, users can then add provisional renovations for the property to the tool and get an updated valuation for the property's market value.

James Bassil, director of product at Rightmove, said:

"We’re really pleased to utilise our market leading property data to bring people this innovative functionality.

"We’re clear with home-movers that this is an initial estimate, and agents seeing the property for themselves will be in the best position to consider any additional value added by renovation works."

Rightmove is currently under offer for a potential buyout by Australia's REA Group, but will demand a higher offer before accepting.

Zoopla launches 'Bricks and Chatter' newsletter

Zoopla has introduced a new forum called 'Bricks and Chatter', a monthly newsletter that provides agents with industry insights and product developments from the portal.

The monthly roundup newsletter is part of Zoopla's free online community for its customers, and it is currently in beta.

Alex Rose, director of corporate agency and new homes at Zoopla, said:

"We’re very pleased to introduce these extra touchpoints with Zoopla agents and housebuilders, many of whom have a real appetite for our data and insights. Both our newsletter and community provide agents with the opportunity to easily keep up to date with all things property news, and get exclusive insights on the latest at Zoopla."

Wikicasa adds appraisals, spins off its auction service to a new company

Italy-based proptech and real estate marketplace Wikicasa has extended its partnership with Tempocasa, an Italian real estate franchise network, to include property valuations.

Wikicasa said the collaboration with Tempocasa has developed a property valuation process that provides sellers with in-depth analysis of their property’s value, combining local data to provide three possible valuations and potential sale times.

Wikicasa has also spun off its auction and debt collection service, launched earlier this year, into a new business called Rescue.

Wikicasa says Rescue is positioned as the prime digital marketplace for managing and recovering credit and will connect stakeholders into one ethical, efficient body to manage credit recovery, from property professionals to debt consultants.

Mattia Colantuoni, head of sales at Wikicasa, said:

"This project will not stop at the judicial sphere … [it will] identify a wider range of resolution options that generate benefits for society, protecting families and homeowners. It is not only important to look for solutions that can make debt collection more efficient but also to identify actions that can protect homeowners, creating the conditions for win-win situations on multiple fronts."

Watch Online Marketplaces' conversation with Pietro Pellizzari on the PPW Podcast below: