Privacy Policy for Ocean Property Sales
Ocean Property Sales is deeply committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal data. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, store, and share information about you when you interact with our website, www.sell-overseas-property.com (the “Site”), and utilize the services we provide. We adhere strictly to the principles and requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) and other applicable data protection laws in the United Kingdom.
1. Who We Are (Data Controller)
Ocean Property Sales is the data controller responsible for the processing of your personal data. This means we determine the purposes and means of processing your personal data.
Our Contact Details:
- Email: info@sell-overseas-property.com
- Website: www.sell-overseas-property.com
2. The Information We Collect About You
We collect various types of personal data from and about you, depending on how you interact with our Site and services.
Information you provide to us directly:
- Account Registration Data: When you create an account, we collect your full name, email address, telephone number, and any other contact details you choose to provide.
- Property Listing Information: If you upload a property for sale, we collect all details you provide about the property (e.g., address, type, size, price, features, descriptions, images, videos), along with your contact information to be displayed as part of the listing.
- Communication Data: When you contact us via email, contact forms, or other means, we collect the content of your communication and any associated contact details you provide.
- Payment Information: If applicable, for any paid services, we will collect necessary payment details (e.g., credit card information, bank account details). Please note that we typically use third-party payment processors, and we do not store full payment card details on our servers.
Information we collect automatically:
- Technical Data: This includes your Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, and other technology on the devices you use to access this Site.
- Usage Data: Information about how you use our Site and services, including your browsing patterns, pages viewed, links clicked, and the dates and times of your visits. This helps us understand user behavior and improve our services.
3. How and Why We Use Your Information
We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal data in the following circumstances and for the following purposes:
- To Provide and Maintain Our Services (Contractual Necessity):
- To register and manage your user account.
- To display your property listings on the Site, making them visible to other users and potential buyers.
- To facilitate communication between you and potential buyers (where applicable).
- To process payments for any paid services you subscribe to.
- To provide customer support and respond to your inquiries.
- Legal Basis: Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party or in order to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract.
- For Marketing and Promotional Communications (Consent):
- To send you newsletters, updates, special offers, or other marketing information about our services or properties that may be of interest to you.
- Legal Basis: We will only send you marketing communications where you have given us explicit, affirmative consent to do so. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us or using the unsubscribe link in our emails.
- To Improve Our Site and Services (Legitimate Interests):
- To analyze how our Site is used, identify trends, and enhance user experience.
- To troubleshoot technical issues and ensure the proper functioning of our Site.
- To develop new features and services.
- Legal Basis: This processing is based on our legitimate interests in understanding and improving our services, provided these interests do not override your fundamental rights and freedoms.
- For Security and Fraud Prevention (Legitimate Interests & Legal Obligation):
- To detect, prevent, and address fraudulent or unauthorized activities on our Site.
- To protect the security and integrity of our systems and data.
- Legal Basis: This is necessary for our legitimate interests in protecting our business and users, and in some cases, to comply with legal obligations.
- To Comply with Legal Obligations:
- To comply with applicable laws, regulations, legal processes, or governmental requests.
- To establish, exercise, or defend our legal rights.
- Legal Basis: Processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject.
4. How We Share Your Information
We may share your personal data with third parties in the following circumstances:
- With Other Users of the Site: When you create a property listing, certain information you provide (e.g., property details, images, your publicly displayed contact information) will be visible to other users of the Site and the general public.
- With Service Providers: We engage trusted third-party service providers who perform functions on our behalf and assist us in operating our business. These may include hosting providers, IT support, payment processors, analytics providers, and marketing service providers. We only share the minimum personal data necessary for them to perform their services, and they are contractually bound to protect your data and use it only for the purposes for which we disclose it to them.
- For Legal Reasons: We may disclose your personal data if required to do so by law, court order, or in response to a legitimate request from a public or governmental authority. We may also disclose your data to protect our rights, property, or safety, or the rights, property, or safety of our users or others.
- Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, reorganization, sale of assets, or bankruptcy, your personal data may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you via email and/or a prominent notice on our Site of any such change in ownership or control of your personal data.
We do not sell your personal data to third parties for their marketing purposes.
5. International Transfers of Data
Your personal data may be transferred to, and stored at, a destination outside the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area (EEA) where data protection laws may not be as stringent as those in the UK/EEA. Where we transfer your personal data outside the UK/EEA, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by implementing at least one of the following safeguards:
- We will only transfer your personal data to countries that have been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for personal data by the European Commission or the UK government.
- Where we use certain service providers, we may use specific contracts approved for use in the UK/EEA which give personal data the same protection it has in the UK/EEA (e.g., Standard Contractual Clauses).
Please contact us if you want further information on the specific mechanism used by us when transferring your personal data out of the UK/EEA.
6. Data Security
We are committed to ensuring the security of your personal data. We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures designed to protect your personal data from accidental loss, unauthorized access, use, alteration, or disclosure. These measures include, but are not limited to, encryption, access controls, secure servers, and regular security assessments.
Despite our efforts, no security system is impenetrable, and we cannot guarantee the absolute security of your data. In the event of a data breach, we have procedures in place to deal with it and will notify you and any applicable regulator where we are legally required to do so.
7. Data Retention
We will retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. This means we keep your data for:
- Active Accounts: As long as your account remains active on our Site.
- After Account Deactivation: For a reasonable period after your account is deactivated, to allow for account recovery, to comply with legal obligations (e.g., tax, anti-money laundering), or to resolve disputes.
- Legal Obligations: To comply with any legal obligations that require us to retain certain data for specific periods (e.g., tax records, transaction histories).
- Dispute Resolution: For the duration of any potential legal claims or disputes.
When we no longer have a legitimate need to retain your personal data, we will securely delete or anonymize it. If we cannot delete or anonymize it (for example, because it is stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal data and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.
8. Your Legal Rights
Under the GDPR and UK data protection laws, you have specific rights regarding your personal data. These rights include:
- The Right to Access: You have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- The Right to Rectification: You can request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you.
- The Right to Erasure ( “Right to be Forgotten”): You can request that we delete your personal data where there is no good reason for us to continue processing it. This right is not absolute and applies in specific circumstances (e.g., if the data is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected).
- The Right to Restriction of Processing: You can request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations (e.g., if you contest the accuracy of the data, or if our processing is unlawful).
- The Right to Data Portability: You have the right to request that we transfer your personal data to you or to another data controller in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format, where technically feasible.
- The Right to Object: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground. You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes.
- The Right to Withdraw Consent: Where we are relying on your consent to process your personal data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent.
- The Right to Lodge a Complaint: You have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, particularly in the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), if you believe your data protection rights have been violated. Their website is http://www.ico.org.uk.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@sell-overseas-property.com. We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it.
9. Cookies and Tracking Technologies
We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to enhance your experience on our Site, analyze Site usage, and improve our services. Cookies are small text files placed on your device.
- Strictly Necessary Cookies: These are essential for the operation of our Site (e.g., enabling you to log in, use a shopping cart).
- Analytical/Performance Cookies: These allow us to recognize and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around our Site when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our Site works.
- Functionality Cookies: These are used to recognize you when you return to our Site. This enables us to personalize our content for you, greet you by name and remember your preferences.
- Targeting Cookies: These cookies record your visit to our Site, the pages you have visited and the links you have followed. We will use this information to make our Site and the advertising displayed on it more relevant to your interests.
You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. However, this may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website. You can find more information about cookies and how to manage them at http://www.allaboutcookies.org.
10. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the updated Privacy Policy on the Site, and where appropriate, by email. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy regularly to stay informed about how we are protecting your information.
11. Contact Us
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data protection practices, please do not hesitate to contact us:
Email: info@sell-overseas-property.com