Over the past few days, we’ve noticed some quiet changes to the Ministry of the Interior’s “Real Estate Transaction Price Inquiry Service” (hereafter referred to as the Price Registration Site). Fields like “Total Transaction Price,” “Unit Price,” and “Land Section Location” have been changed from text to image files, and a four-digit security CAPTCHA is now required before logging in.
When the system first launched, it frequently crashed or experienced network congestion, drawing heavy criticism from the public. Doubtless, the Ministry of the Interior introduced these minor hurdles to prevent automated bots or manual high-volume queries. However, such methods are hardly elegant.
Sometimes, the more restrictive features a website has, the more it destroys the experience for regular users. For example, by using images for price data, the site prevents us from directly copying and pasting price information, creating an obstacle for those of us trying to take notes.
That said, I originally supported stricter protection for the government’s price registration info. I’ve listed my five viewpoints below and welcome discussion:
- Mass scraping by some individuals using plug-ins might be one factor causing congestion at specific times. Currently, the connection and query speed feels relatively stable.
- Private or commercial websites wanting to use this info (I heard 591 Rental is working on it) cannot and dare not guarantee its accuracy. Ultimately, users still have to check the Ministry’s site, meaning we do double work (or triple, because we don’t entirely trust the Ministry’s site either).
- The price registration info is already Open Data (Note: there are legal bases for charging for certain government info, so it can’t be freely published, but it is public data). The only difference is that the database isn’t open for direct scraping by third parties.
- Redesigning the website architecture for commercial use would require contractors to start new projects and evaluations, costing more of the taxpayers’ hard-earned money.
- Price registration info is highly dynamic (in theory; currently it’s updated once a month) and time-sensitive. Opening it to arbitrary commercial use could easily lead to time lags, preventing effective real-time communication of info, which is disadvantageous for buyers. Sellers, who hold the decision-making power, would likely be happier.
The government’s current priority should be disclosing more related information and designing an open, fair system to avoid hiding internal info, which can lead to buyer judgment errors (e.g., fears that inaccurate registration data could lead to price manipulation). If the public cannot trust the information on the site, the original intent of the Real Estate Transaction Price Inquiry Service is lost.
Furthermore, since the site is still in its early stages, the government should listen more to user feedback for system improvements rather than working behind closed doors—though that seems to be the norm for software outsourcing.
Meanwhile, the unofficial “Taiwan Price Registration Website” looks exactly like something the government would hate. Its information presentation is so clear that it seems like a perfect tool for property speculation XDDDD.
2012.11.15 Update:
A friend pointed out a question: why should the Ministry of the Interior open its data for private use? No one seems to have provided a good reason. Some argue that since the Ministry belongs to the people, or because government statistics are public documents, they should be open.
However, aside from real estate agents or specific commercial sites, “house price information is only needed by a minority of people most of the time.” This point alone makes it hard to persuade the Ministry to open up. Perhaps in the government’s current thinking, the careful selection of “buying locations” is more important than “broad area” price disclosure, which they might see as a way to avoid speculation.
Moreover, regarding the fifth point above, I wrote yesterday that updates are currently monthly. If a third-party site becomes highly popular (because it’s well-designed), but its update speed lacks a public, standardized process (including legal witness), or if those with access intentionally manipulate or delay publication during peak demand, this could create a new kind of “information asymmetry.” This is a factor everyone should consider, otherwise it will only lead to new transaction disputes.