PROPERTY LAW UPDATE by Jenny També:
Strict rules concerning those who host paying guests were introduced in italy in January 2013. Accommodation facilities, as well as private individuals hosting lodgers, are now required by law to communicate their guests’ details directly to the local questura.
The main aim of this law (Decree of 7th January 2013 no. 19 – Disposizioni concernenti la comunicazione alle autorita’ di pubblica sicurezza dell’arrivo di persone alloggiate in strutture ricettive) is to enforce Article 45 of the Schengen Agreement, which states that all persons managing accommodation services must ensure that aliens being accommodated there, including nationals from other Contracting Parties, complete and sign registration forms and produce a valid identity document.
Article 1 states that accommodation managers, or their agents, must communicate the personal details of their guests within 24 hours of their arrival, or at their arrival if their stay is of less than 24 hours. Article 2 sets up an electronic means of making the communication, via a website. In order to utilize this, managers of accommodation facilities must apply to the police for a username and password. The technical Annex (allegato tecnico) to the Decree lists which of the guests’ personal details must be communicated, and thoroughly explains how to use the web service, and how the information must be faxed or emailed if necessary. Article 3 allows for the communication to be made by fax or email in the unlikely event that the web service should experience technical difficulties, as a 24 hour deadline would not be realistic if other, slower means of communication were employed.For privacy reasons, Article 4 stipulates that the personal details uploaded onto the web service are only accessible by agents and officers of the police force who have been expressly authorized to do so by a special provision of the superintendent (questore), for the prevention, investigation and prosecution of crime. Five years after their insertion, details and data are permanently deleted from the records.
