Privacy Policy for Homzly Property Application
1. Introduction:
This Privacy Policy outlines how Homzly, a property application designed to connect individuals with property listings and related services, collects, uses, and shares the personal information of its users. This policy applies to the Homzly mobile application, which is available for download on various app stores and accessible for use on mobile devices. At Homzly, we are deeply committed to protecting the privacy of our users and ensuring the security of their personal data. This document details our practices regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of your information. Our commitment to your privacy is guided by the principles enshrined in the UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 on the Protection of Personal Data and, where applicable, the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), reflecting our dedication to upholding international standards for data protection.
2. Information We Collect:
We collect various types of personal information from users to provide and enhance the services offered by the Homzly application. This information can be broadly categorized into information provided by users and information collected automatically.
(a) Information Provided by Users:
Account Information: When users register for an account on Homzly, they may provide personal details such as their name, email address, phone number, and date of birth (if required for age verification or specific service eligibility). This information is essential for creating and managing user accounts, as well as for communication purposes.
Property Search Preferences: To tailor the property listings and recommendations to individual needs, users may input their search preferences, including the types of properties they are interested in (e.g., apartments, villas), preferred locations, price ranges, the desired number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and other specific criteria. This data helps us to refine search results and provide a more personalized experience.
Communication Data: When users interact with other users through the Homzly application, such as sending messages to property listers or contacting customer support, records of these communications, including the content and timestamps, may be collected and stored. This allows us to facilitate communication between parties and maintain a history of interactions for support purposes.
Profile Information: Users have the option to add additional information to their profile, such as their interests, saved searches, or any other details they choose to share. This voluntary information can further personalize their experience on the app.
Uploaded Content: For users who wish to list properties on Homzly, they may upload content such as photos and descriptions of the properties. This content is stored and displayed within the app to facilitate property discovery by other users.
Payment Information: If Homzly offers premium or paid features, users may be required to provide payment information, such as credit card details or other payment method information. This information is typically processed securely through third-party payment processors, and Homzly does not directly store sensitive payment details.
(b) Information Collected Automatically:
Location Data: With the user's explicit consent, Homzly may collect precise or approximate location data from their mobile device. This allows us to provide location-based services such as showing nearby properties, enabling location-based searches, and personalizing recommendations based on the user's current location.
Device Information: When users access and use the Homzly application, we automatically collect certain information about their device, including the device type, operating system, unique device identifiers (such as IMEI or device ID), IP address, and mobile network information. This data helps us to ensure the app's compatibility with different devices and to troubleshoot any technical issues.
Usage Data: We collect information about how users interact with the Homzly application, including the app version they are using, the features they access, the pages they visit, the time they spend on the app, and crash logs or other diagnostic data. This usage data is analysed to understand user behaviour, identify areas for improvement, and enhance the overall performance and user experience of the app.
Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies: Homzly may use cookies, web beacons, and other similar tracking technologies to collect information about user activity within the app. These technologies help us to remember user preferences, track app usage patterns, and potentially deliver targeted content or advertisements.
3. How We Use Your Information:
The personal information collected from users is used for a variety of purposes aimed at providing, maintaining, and improving the Homzly application and its services:
To Provide and Maintain the Services: We use your information to enable the core functionalities of the Homzly app, such as facilitating property searches and displaying relevant listings based on your criteria. Account information is used to manage your user profile and ensure secure access to the app. Communication data allows us to connect users, such as potential buyers or renters with property listers, and to provide customer support when needed.
To Personalize User Experience: By analysing your property search preferences and usage data, we can personalize your experience within the app. This includes remembering your settings, suggesting relevant properties that match your past searches and saved criteria, and tailoring the content displayed to your interests.
To Send Notifications and Alerts: We may use your contact information to send you notifications and alerts related to your activity on the app, such as property alerts for new listings that match your saved preferences, notifications about messages and inquiries from other users, and service-related announcements or updates about the Homzly application. These notifications are sent in accordance with your notification preferences and consent where required.
To Facilitate Communication Between Users: A key feature of Homzly is to connect individuals interested in properties. We use your information to facilitate this communication, allowing users to contact property listers directly or express their interest in a particular listing.
To Improve the App and Develop New Features: We continuously strive to improve the Homzly application and develop new features that enhance the user experience. To achieve this, we analyse usage data to identify areas for improvement, understand user behaviour, and conduct research and development activities.
For Marketing Purposes with Consent: With your explicit consent, we may use your contact information to send you promotional emails or in-app messages about new features, special offers, or related services that we believe may be of interest to you. You will always have the option to opt out of receiving such marketing communications at any time.
To Comply with Legal Obligations: We may use your personal information to comply with applicable legal obligations, such as responding to valid legal requests from government authorities, enforcing our terms and conditions, and adhering to relevant laws and regulations.
To Ensure the Security and Integrity of the App: We utilize your information, including usage data and IP addresses, to monitor and analyse app activity, prevent fraud, and ensure the safety, security, and integrity of the Homzly application and its users.
4. Sharing Your Information with Third Parties:
We may share your personal information with certain third parties under the following circumstances:
Service Providers: We engage third-party service providers to perform various functions on our behalf, such as hosting our app data on secure servers, providing analytics services to understand app usage (e.g., Google Analytics, Firebase), offering mapping and location services (e.g., Google Maps) to display property locations, processing payments for paid features (e.g., Stripe, PayPal), facilitating email and SMS communications (e.g., Twilio), and managing customer support inquiries. These service providers have access to your personal information only to the extent necessary to perform these services and are obligated to protect your information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
Analytics Partners: We may share anonymized and aggregated data with analytics partners to conduct market research, analyse industry trends, and improve the Homzly application. This data does not directly identify individual users.
Advertising Partners: If the Homzly application displays advertisements, we may, with your consent where required, share limited information with advertising networks to show you relevant ads within the app or on other platforms.
Other Users: When you use specific features of the Homzly application, such as contacting a property lister, certain limited information from your profile (e.g., your name and contact details) may be shared with the other user to facilitate communication and the intended functionality of the app.
Legal Authorities: We may disclose your personal information to legal authorities if required by law, such as to comply with a subpoena, court order, or other legal process, or if we believe that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, the rights of others, or to investigate or prevent fraud or illegal activities.
Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, sale of all or a portion of our assets, or other business transaction, your personal information may be transferred to the acquiring entity or other third party involved in the transaction as part of the assets being transferred.
Other Third Parties: We may share your personal information with other third parties with your explicit consent or as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy.
5. Data Storage and Security:
We implement a variety of technical and organizational measures designed to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures include the use of secure servers, encryption technologies to protect data both in transit and at rest, firewalls, and access controls to limit access to personal information to authorized personnel only. We also conduct regular security audits and vulnerability assessments to identify and address potential security risks. While we strive to maintain the highest standards of data security, it is important to understand that no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee the absolute security of your personal information.
6. Your Rights Regarding Your Personal Information:
Users of the Homzly application have certain rights regarding their personal information, which are granted under both the GDPR and the UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021:
Right to Access: You have the right to request confirmation as to whether or not your personal data is being processed, and, where that is the case, to request access to your personal data, including receiving a copy of the information we hold about you. You can exercise this right by contacting us through the details provided in the "Contact Us" section.
Right to Rectification: If you believe that any of the personal information we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you have the right to request that we correct or complete this information. You can do so by contacting us with the updated details.
Right to Erasure (Right to be Forgotten): Under certain circumstances, you have the right to request the erasure of your personal data. These circumstances include when the data is no longer necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, you have withdrawn your consent, or the data has been unlawfully processed. Please contact us if you wish to exercise this right.
Right to Restriction of Processing: You have the right to request the restriction of processing of your personal data in specific situations, such as while we are verifying the accuracy of the data you have contested, or if the processing is unlawful and you oppose erasure.
Right to Data Portability: Where the processing of your personal data is based on consent or a contract, and the processing is carried out by automated means, you have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and to transmit that data to another controller without hindrance from us, where technically feasible.
Right to Object: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances, including processing for direct marketing purposes or processing based on our legitimate interests. You can exercise this right by contacting us with your request.
Right to Withdraw Consent: If we rely on your consent as the legal basis for processing your personal information, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. The withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal. To withdraw your consent, please follow the instructions provided when we obtained your consent or contact us directly.
Rights under UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021: In accordance with the UAE law, you have the right to access, correct, and request the deletion of your personal data. You also have the right to restrict the processing of your data and to object to its processing for direct marketing purposes. Furthermore, you have the right to data portability where it is technically feasible. To exercise these rights under the UAE law, please contact us using the details provided below.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the information provided in the "Contact Us" section of this Privacy Policy. We will respond to your request in accordance with applicable data protection laws.
7. Data Retention:
We will retain your personal information only for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, including providing you with the Homzly services, personalizing your experience, communicating with you, improving our app, complying with legal obligations, and ensuring the security of our platform.
Account information will be retained as long as your account remains active. If you choose to close your account, we may retain certain information for a period as required by law or for legitimate business purposes, such as resolving disputes or enforcing our terms and conditions.
Property search preferences are typically retained to enhance the personalization of your future searches and recommendations. You can manage or delete your search history within the app.
Communication data, such as messages exchanged with other users or customer support, may be retained for a certain period to facilitate issue resolution, maintain a record of communications, and improve our services.
Location data, collected with your consent, will be retained only for as long as necessary to provide location-based services. We may also anonymize and aggregate location data for longer-term analysis to improve our services.
Usage data, such as app version, features used, and time spent on the app, may be retained for a longer period for analytical purposes to help us understand how users interact with our app and identify areas for improvement.
Payment information, if collected, is retained as required by applicable laws and the policies of our third-party payment processors. We do not directly store sensitive payment details.
For marketing purposes, we will retain your contact information and preferences only as long as we have your consent to send you marketing communications. You can withdraw your consent at any time, after which we will no longer use your data for these purposes.
We will also retain data for longer periods if required to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, or enforce our agreements. Our data deletion practices are designed to ensure that your personal information is securely and permanently deleted when it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected or as required by law.
8. Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies:
The Homzly application may use cookies, web beacons, and other tracking technologies to enhance user experience, analyse app usage, and potentially deliver targeted content or advertisements.
Cookies: These are small text files that are placed on your device by our servers. They help us to remember your preferences, understand how you interact with our app, and improve its functionality.
Web Beacons: These are small electronic images that may be embedded in our app or emails. They allow us to track user activity and collect information about how our app is used.
Types of Cookies Used: We may use essential cookies that are necessary for the app to function properly, analytics cookies to understand how users interact with our app, and advertising cookies to deliver targeted advertisements based on your interests.
Purposes of Use: These technologies are used to remember your login information, personalize your experience, track app usage for analytics purposes, and potentially deliver relevant advertisements.
User Choices: You can manage your preferences regarding cookies and other tracking technologies through your device settings. Most devices allow you to control whether or not to accept cookies and to remove existing cookies. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality and user experience of the Homzly application.
9. Consent:
Your privacy is of paramount importance to us, and we are committed to obtaining your informed consent for the collection and processing of your personal information, especially for specific purposes:
General Consent: By creating an account on the Homzly application or by using the app for the first time, you provide your general consent to the terms of this Privacy Policy and to the collection and processing of your personal information as described herein.
Explicit Consent for Marketing: We will obtain your explicit consent before sending you any marketing communications, such as promotional emails or in-app messages about new features or offers. This consent will typically be obtained through an opt-in mechanism within the app, allowing you to clearly indicate your willingness to receive such communications.
Explicit Consent for Sensitive Data: For the collection and use of sensitive personal data, such as precise location data, we will obtain your explicit consent through device-level permission requests. These requests will clearly explain the purpose for which the location data is being collected and how it will be used. You will have the option to grant or deny this permission, and you can withdraw your consent at any time through your device settings.
Withdrawal of Consent: You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time for any processing activity that is based on your consent. We will provide clear and easily accessible mechanisms for you to withdraw your consent, such as through in-app settings, unsubscribe links in emails, or by contacting us directly. The withdrawal of your consent will not affect the lawfulness of any processing that we carried out based on your consent before it was withdrawn.
10. International Data Transfers:
If your personal information is transferred outside of your region (for example, if our servers are located in a different country), we will implement appropriate safeguards to ensure that your data is protected in accordance with applicable data protection laws, including GDPR and the UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021. These safeguards may include:
Reliance on Adequacy Decisions: Transferring your data to countries that have been deemed by relevant authorities (such as the European Commission) to provide an adequate level of protection for personal data.
Use of Standard Contractual Clauses: Implementing standard contractual clauses that have been approved by relevant authorities to ensure that your data receives a level of protection equivalent to that provided in your region.
Other Appropriate Safeguards: Implementing other legally recognized safeguards that ensure the security and protection of your personal information when it is transferred internationally.
We will take all necessary steps to ensure that your personal information is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy, regardless of where it is processed.
11. Updates to This Privacy Policy:
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our data practices, technological advancements, legal requirements, or for other operational purposes. When we make significant changes to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you by posting the updated policy within the Homzly application and, where appropriate, by sending you a notification through the app or via email to the email address associated with your account. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your personal information. The date of the latest revision will be indicated at the beginning of the updated Privacy Policy. Your continued use of the Homzly application after the effective date of any updated Privacy Policy will constitute your acceptance of the revised terms.
12. Contact Us:
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please do not hesitate to contact us using the following details:
Email Address: Privacy@homzly.com
Postal Address: MKHA Global Investments, 310, Aswar Building, Sheikh Zayed Road, Business Bay, PO Box 5715
Phone Number: +971 4266 4597
We are committed to addressing any privacy-related inquiries promptly and effectively.
13. Effective Date:
This Privacy Policy is effective as of Apr 1, 2025.