Privacy Policy

1Who we are

ExpatsDeals ("we", "us") runs the marketplace at expatsdeals.com for people living in the United Arab Emirates. We are responsible for the personal data described in this policy. This policy explains what we collect, why, who sees it, and the choices you have.

By using the site you agree to this policy and to our Terms of Service.

2What we collect

• Account details: your first and last name, email address, and password. Your password is stored in a scrambled (hashed) form, so we cannot read it. You may also give a UAE mobile number.
• Listings: the title, price, description, photos, category, emirate, leaving date and any other details you add. If you choose to show Call and WhatsApp buttons, your mobile number is shown to logged-in members.
• Messages: the text of messages you send to sellers through the site, and messages you send us through our contact form.
• Activity: listings you save, listings you report, and the number of views a listing receives.
• Technical data: your IP address, browser type and the dates and times of requests. We use these for security, spam control and to keep the site working.
• Photos: pictures may contain hidden details such as the place they were taken. We shrink and re-save photos on upload, which usually removes this, but please do not upload photos that show things you want to keep private.

3Why we use it

• To create and run your account and let you post, edit, renew and delete listings.
• To show your listings to other people, and to pass messages between buyers and sellers.
• To send you emails about your account and listings: email confirmation, password reset, listing approval or rejection, reminders before a listing ends, and replies to your messages.
• To review listings, find spam, scams and duplicates, and enforce our Terms and Rules.
• To protect the site and its users, for example by limiting how many times something can be done in an hour.
• To understand how the site is used and to improve it, for example by counting listing views.
• To follow the law and answer valid requests from the authorities.

4Who can see your information

• Everyone can see what you put in a listing: title, price, description, photos and emirate. We do not show your name, email address or password publicly. A listing shows a "Verified seller" badge if you have earned it.
• Sellers receive the messages you send them by email. To let them reply, the email shows your name and email address, so the seller will see your email address.
• Logged-in members can see a seller's phone number only if that seller chose to show it on the listing.
• Our service providers who help us run the site: our web hosting company and our email delivery provider. They may only use your data to provide their service to us. Our pages also load fonts from Google Fonts, which means your browser contacts Google when a page opens.
• Authorities, where the law requires it or where it is needed to prevent fraud or harm.

We do not sell your personal data, and we do not share it for third-party advertising.

5Cookies

We use a small number of cookies that the site needs to work:

• Login cookies keep you logged in. They last for the session, or about two weeks if you choose "Keep me logged in".
• View cookie: when you open a listing we set a cookie for one day, so that one visitor is counted once per day.
• Security and technical cookies set by WordPress and our security checks.

We do not use advertising cookies. You can block cookies in your browser, but then you will not be able to log in.

6How long we keep it

• Account and listings: until you delete them. When you delete your account in My Account, we delete your account, listings, photos and saved items.
• Ended listings: kept in your account so that you can renew them, until you delete them.
• Messages and emails: emails already delivered cannot be taken back from the recipient or their email provider. Copies in our email logs, if any, are kept for a short period.
• Backups and security logs: may keep a copy for a limited time after deletion, and then are overwritten.
• We may keep some details for longer where the law requires it, or where we need them to deal with abuse or a legal claim.

7Your choices and rights

You can see and change your name, email, phone number and password in My Account, under Settings. You can edit or delete any listing there too, and you can delete your whole account.

Under UAE data protection law you may also ask us to give you a copy of your data, correct it, delete it, or stop us using it in some ways. To make a request, use our Contact page or email contact@expatsdeals.com. We may need to confirm who you are first, and we will answer within the time the law requires.

8How we protect your data

We use sensible measures to protect your data: passwords are stored hashed, forms are protected against forged requests, login and sign-up attempts are limited, and only authorised people can reach the admin area. No website can promise perfect security, so please use a strong, unique password.

If a data breach affects you in a way the law says we must report, we will tell you and the authorities as required.

9Where your data is stored

Our hosting and email providers may store or process data on servers outside the UAE. Where that happens, we use providers that apply appropriate protections for your data.

10Children

ExpatsDeals is for people aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect data from children. If you think a child has given us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.

11Links to other sites

The site may link to other websites. We are not responsible for their privacy practices, so please read their policies.

12Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We will change the "Last updated" date at the top, and for important changes we will tell you on the site or by email.

13Contact us

Questions about privacy, or want to use your rights? Use our Contact page and choose "Help with my account".