Privacy statement

1. Who is responsible

HouseSwipes is a service of [BEDRIJFSNAAM], located at [ADRES] and registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KvK) under number [KVK-NUMMER]. [BEDRIJFSNAAM] is the controller of the personal data processed through the HouseSwipes app, the partner portal and this website.

Questions about privacy: [E-MAILADRES PRIVACY].

2. What data we process

Which data that is depends on what you do in the app.

Demo or live

The app has a demo mode with made-up example homes, residents and partners. In the demo, what you do stays on your phone and you do not create a real account. Only usage statistics and, if you fill in that form, your test feedback reach us (see below). When you switch the demo off, you use the real service and everything in this statement applies.

Your account

• your name, email address and phone number. We verify your phone number with a one-time code;
• your password. Our sign-in service manages it and only stores it in encrypted form (as a hash); we cannot read it;
• whether you own the home you live in, and the city you choose;
• data about your sign-in sessions and when you created your account.

Your moving wishes

What you tell us about your next home: when you want to move, which neighbourhoods, your budget, the size and your wishes. Also your answers and progress on the moving path, your moving boxes and your mascot. Some of this is only stored on your phone.

Your home

• features such as type, rooms, floor area, year built and energy label, your asking price and your description;
• the neighbourhood and an approximate location (the centre of an area of about one kilometre);
• your exact address, which we keep separately (see Who sees your data);
• photos of your home.

Your phone downsizes photos and removes hidden data (such as the location and the device) before they are sent. Our server checks every photo again and stores it without that data. We also check that photos show no faces, documents, valuables or clues to your exact address. Photos are never public: they can only be seen in the app, through links that expire within two hours.

Swiping, proposals and matches

Which homes you view, like (including Super Likes), skip or save; price proposals you make or receive, with your message; your matches, planned viewings and requests to hand the sale over to an estate agent.

Conversations

Messages you send to another mover after a match, with the time and whether they were read. Also your conversations with partners (such as estate agents, painters, removal companies, mortgage advisers and notaries), your answers to questions in those conversations (for example a chosen time) and what you share there yourself.

Coupons

Which coupons you received, from which partner, the code, until when it is valid and whether it has been used.

Places in your neighbourhood

Places you add (such as a school or park), photos of them and your reactions (for example ‘my child goes here’). Only residents of a neighbourhood can do this. We work out whether you are a resident from the neighbourhood of your own home in the app.

Reports and moderation

Reports you make or that are made about you (with the category and the explanation), who you block, and decisions by our team, such as a warning or suspension.

Test feedback

If you fill in the feedback form (for example after the demo): your answers, scores and comments, and whether you used the demo or the live app. In the demo, it is not linked to an account.

Usage statistics

To improve the app, we measure how it is used: which screens you open, which buttons you tap, and steps such as ‘home listed’ or ‘match’. With each event we only send technical names, counts and choices, plus whether it is the demo, the app and iOS version, a session number and a random number for your device. After you sign in we link the events to your account number, not to your name.

We never send your name, email address, phone number, address, messages or anything you type. Our analytics service PostHog does not store IP addresses. You can switch this off in the app under Me › Settings › Share usage data.

Technical data

When you use the app or this website, our servers process technical data such as your IP address, the type of device, the app version and the time of requests. We need this to run the service, prevent misuse (for example too many attempts to enter a code) and find errors.

Contacting us

If you email us: your email address, your message and what we agree with you about it.

For partner staff

Do you work for a partner, such as an estate agency? For your partner portal account we process your name, work email address and phone number, your job title and the neighbourhoods you cover, your sign-in data and two-step verification, and a log of what is done in the portal (without the content of messages). Your name and job title are visible in the app.

3. Why, and on what legal basis

We only use your data for the purposes below. Each purpose shows the legal basis under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) we rely on.

Creating your account and signing you in

Legal basis: performance of the contract (our terms of use).

Verifying your phone number

This prevents fake accounts and misuse.

Legal basis: performance of the contract and our legitimate interest in a trustworthy community.

Showing your home, finding homes for you and making matches

Including sharing the exact address after a match and the conversations between movers.

Legal basis: performance of the contract.

Connecting you with partners, handing over the sale and giving coupons

We only do this when you ask for it. A hand-over to an estate agent only happens when you both agree.

Legal basis: performance of the contract.

Showing residents’ places and reactions

Legal basis: performance of the contract.

Keeping HouseSwipes safe

Checking homes, photos and places, handling reports, blocking, preventing fraud and misuse and enforcing our terms.

Legal basis: our legitimate interest in a safe and trustworthy platform, to protect you and others; and a legal obligation where the law requires it.

Improving the app with usage statistics

We limit this to what we need to understand what works and what does not. You can always switch it off.

Legal basis: our legitimate interest in an app that works well.

Have it assessed whether the app’s usage statistics (a random device number stored on the phone, and processing in the US) need prior consent instead of a switch to turn them off, under the Dutch Telecommunications Act (art. 11.7a) and the GDPR.

Collecting test feedback

Legal basis: consent: you choose whether to fill in the form. You can withdraw your consent by emailing us.

Answering your questions

Legal basis: performance of the contract and our legitimate interest in helping you well.

Working with partners and invoicing them

Legal basis: performance of the contract with the partner, and the legal obligation to keep our accounts.

Insights for municipalities (later)

Later on, we want to show municipalities what residents value in their neighbourhood, for example how many residents appreciate a school or park. These are totals only, without personal data: they do not reveal who added or reacted to anything.

Decide how this is anonymised (for example a minimum group size) and have it assessed whether anything else is needed before this starts.

What we do not do

• We do not sell personal data.
• We do not use your data for advertising.
• We do not make decisions with legal or similarly significant effects on you based solely on automated processing. You can always have an automatic check, such as whether a photo is large enough, reviewed by a person through support.

4. Who sees your data

Other movers

• With your home we show your first name, the neighbourhood and an approximate location, never your exact address.
• If you like a home or make a proposal, the owner sees your first name and the first letter of your last name.
• After a match you see each other’s first name and last initial, and your messages. An owner can choose in the settings to show their full name after a match.
• Someone only sees the exact address of a home once the owner has responded to their like or proposal and they then open the conversation. We record when an address is shared.
• Other users never see your email address or phone number.
• For places, others see ‘resident’ and the number of reactions, not who added or reacted.

Partners

Partners are independent businesses, such as estate agents, painters, removal companies, mortgage advisers and notaries. If you start a conversation with a partner, that partner only sees your first name and what you write or share yourself (and, for a coupon, that coupon). A partner does not get your email address or phone number from us.

Hand-over to an estate agent. If you both agree after a match, the chosen partner estate agent receives both your first names and the details of the match: the title of the home, the neighbourhood and city, and the agreed price. Not the exact address and no contact details. The estate agent contacts you through the app.

What a partner does with data you give them yourself (for example when you hire them) is the responsibility of that partner and falls under their privacy statement.

Our team

Only team members who need it for their work, for example to check homes or handle reports, can access your data. When checking a home they never see the exact address.

Service providers

We use service providers for hosting, storage, chat and statistics. See below.

Authorities

Only when the law requires us to, for example under an order from the police or the courts.

5. Service providers and where your data is

These service providers only process data on our instructions (as processors):

We have agreements with these service providers on security and confidentiality (a data processing agreement).

Check that a data processing agreement (DPA) has been signed or accepted with each service. Once an SMS service for verification codes or an email service for messages to users is chosen, add it here.

If you download the app through the App Store or TestFlight, Apple processes data for that as an independent controller, under Apple’s privacy policy.

6. Transfers outside the European Economic Area (EEA)

We store your data in the EU as much as possible. Usage statistics (PostHog) are processed in the United States. In addition, some of our service providers are US companies, even when they store your data in the EU, and Cloudflare may deliver photos and website visits through servers outside the EU.

When data goes to a country outside the EEA, we make sure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as the standard contractual clauses adopted by the European Commission. You can ask us for more information about these safeguards.

Check for each service which transfer mechanism actually applies (for example standard contractual clauses or another mechanism) and adjust this paragraph accordingly.

7. How long we keep data

We do not keep data longer than necessary. In practice:

• Your account: as long as your account exists. What happens when you delete it is explained below.
• Your home: as long as it is online. If you do not confirm for a while that your home is still available, we ask after 30 days, remind you after 45 days and take it offline after 60 days. You can put an offline home back online; it is deleted when you delete your account.
• Photos: we delete the original upload as soon as the photo is processed (leftovers after 7 days at the latest). If you remove a photo, we delete it from our storage and it can no longer be opened within two hours. We cannot recall photos someone already loaded on their phone.
• Which homes you viewed: 90 days.
• Verification codes: only stored in encrypted form and deleted after 30 days.
• Messages: as long as the conversation exists.
• Reports and moderation: as long as needed to handle the report and prevent repeated misuse.
• Usage statistics: according to the retention period we set at PostHog.
• Test feedback: until we have processed the feedback.
• Emails to support: as long as needed to help you.
• Technical log files: a short time, after which they are deleted automatically.
• Data needed to invoice partners: seven years, because the law requires it for our accounts.

Set concrete periods for: messages (also after a conversation is closed or an account is deleted), reports and moderation, usage statistics at PostHog, test feedback, support emails, technical log files and the log of important actions. Then fill in the periods here and set them up technically.

8. Deleting your account

You can delete your account yourself at any time: in the app, open the Me tab and tap Delete account at the bottom. If that does not work, email [E-MAILADRES SUPPORT] from your account’s email address. See also the steps on the support page.

What happens then:

• your home, your likes and your proposals disappear straight away and your phone number is removed;
• your name is replaced by ‘Deleted user’ and your sign-in details are removed;
• open matches are closed and your photos are deleted from our storage;
• people you already matched with keep the address they were already given;
• places you added may stay, without showing who added them;
• we keep some data for a limited time and with restricted access, because the law requires it or to prevent misuse. For example the log of important actions (such as sharing an address) and data needed to invoice partners.

9. Security

• All connections are encrypted (HTTPS).
• The app never talks to the database directly. Everything goes through our server, which checks on every request who you are and what you may see.
• Photos are kept in closed storage and can only be seen through signed links that expire quickly.
• Your exact address is kept separately and only shared after a match; we record when that happens.
• We only store verification codes in encrypted form, with a maximum number of attempts.
• The portals for our team and for partners support two-step verification.

Found a security problem? Report it to [E-MAILADRES SUPPORT].

10. Your rights

• Access: you can ask what data we hold about you and get a copy.
• Rectification: you can change a lot yourself in the app; ask us for the rest.
• Erasure: delete your account in the app or ask us.
• Restriction: you can ask us to temporarily restrict the use of your data, for example while we check a correction.
• Objection: to processing based on our legitimate interest, such as usage statistics (which you can also switch off yourself).
• Portability: you can get your data in a common, machine-readable file.
• Withdrawing consent: where we ask for your consent, you can always withdraw it.

Send your request to [E-MAILADRES PRIVACY], preferably from your account’s email address. We may ask you to confirm that it is you. We respond within one month. If a request is complex, this can be extended by two months; we will tell you within the first month.

11. Making a complaint

Not happy with how we handle your data? Let us know first, and we will look for a solution together. You always have the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens).

12. This website

This website uses no cookies, no statistics and no advertising services, and loads nothing from other websites. Our hosting provider Cloudflare processes your IP address to show and protect the pages.

13. Age

HouseSwipes is meant for people aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly process data of children. If you think a child has an account, please let us know.

14. Changes

We update this statement when the app or the law changes. The date at the top shows when that last happened. We will tell you in the app about important changes.

15. Contact

[BEDRIJFSNAAM]
[ADRES]
Chamber of Commerce (KvK) [KVK-NUMMER]

Privacy: [E-MAILADRES PRIVACY]
Support: [E-MAILADRES SUPPORT]