Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy describes how AQARY ("we", "us", "our") collects, uses, retains, and protects information when you use the AQARY mobile application (the "App"). AQARY is a private real-estate marketplace exclusively for verified property owners in the Lebanese Republic.

1. Information We Collect

• Account information: display name, phone number, email address, language preference, authentication provider (Apple, Google, or phone OTP).
• Verification documents: a copy of your Lebanese national ID or passport, and proof-of-ownership documents (title deed, purchase contract, or rental agreement). These documents are reviewed manually by AQARY moderators to confirm you are the legitimate owner.
• Listing content: photos, walkthrough videos (up to two short clips per listing, if you choose to add them), title, description, location (governorate, district, area, and optionally exact coordinates if you choose to share them), price, and property attributes.
• Your contact details on your own listings: if you choose it, your phone number is shown on the listings you publish so buyers can call you or message you on WhatsApp. This is off unless you turn it on, you are asked when you publish, and you can change it at any time in Settings, Privacy, Contact visibility. If you leave it off, buyers can only reach you through in-app chat and never see your number.
• Communication content: in-app messages you send to other users.
• Activity data: listings you view, favorite, or report; search queries (stored locally on your device only); device identifier; IP address; and crash diagnostics.
• Payment information: reference codes and screenshots of Whish Money or OMT transfers used to pay the $20 listing fee. We do not collect or store credit-card numbers.
• Advertising measurement data: your device's advertising identifier, and a limited set of app events such as installing the App, creating an account, and viewing a listing. On iOS this identifier is used only if you grant permission when asked. See section 3 for exactly what is shared, with whom, and how to switch it off.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information above to: verify ownership of properties listed on the App; display listings and enable buyers to contact owners; deliver notifications you have not disabled; prevent fraud and enforce community guidelines; comply with applicable Lebanese law; measure whether our advertising reaches the right people, as described in section 3; and improve the App through anonymous analytics and crash diagnostics.

3. Third Parties and Advertising

Your data is stored on Google Firebase / Google Cloud servers in the me-central1 region (Doha, Qatar). Google acts as a data processor under our agreement with them. We use Google Cloud Vision Safe Search API to automatically scan uploaded photos for prohibited content; results are kept for 30 days for audit, then deleted. Walkthrough videos are not scanned automatically; they are reviewed by a human moderator along with the rest of the listing before it is published.

Advertising measurement is currently switched off. Nothing described in this paragraph is happening today: no advertising identifier, no app event and no IP address is being sent to Meta or to any advertising network. It is documented here in advance because the capability is built into the App but disabled, and because we will not switch it on quietly. Before it is ever enabled we will ask you to agree to an updated version of this policy, and on iOS we will also ask your permission separately. The rest of this section describes what would happen once it is enabled.

Advertising measurement. AQARY advertises on Meta platforms (Facebook and Instagram) to reach property owners, buyers, and renters in Lebanon. To measure whether those adverts actually work, the App includes the Meta SDK, which reports a limited set of events to Meta Platforms, Inc.: that the App was installed, that an account was created, and that a listing was viewed. Those reports can include your device's advertising identifier and IP address. For this data, Meta acts as an independent controller rather than as our processor, which means Meta may also use it to measure and target advertising on its own platforms.

What is never shared. Your verification documents, your national ID, your proof of ownership, your phone number, your email address, and the contents of your in-app messages are never sent to Meta or to any advertising network, under any circumstances.

How to switch it off. On iOS we ask your permission before any advertising identifier is used. If you decline, no identifier is shared, and measurement falls back to Apple's aggregated SKAdNetwork, which does not identify you. You can change your answer at any time in iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking. On Android you can delete or reset your advertising ID in Settings → Google → Ads. Declining costs you nothing: every feature of AQARY works exactly the same either way.

Aside from Google and Meta as described above, no third party receives your personal data. We do not sell your data to anyone.

4. Retention

• Verification documents: retained for 5 years from approval, in line with Lebanese banking and identity-document standards.
• Live listings: retained while live. Sold or rented listings are retained for 2 years from the sold/rented date, then deleted automatically.
• Chat messages: retained until either party deletes their account.
• Payment records: retained for 7 years per Lebanese tax law.
• Inactive accounts: if you do not open the App for 12 consecutive months, we will send a warning notification and delete the account 30 days later.
• Soft-deleted accounts: when you request deletion, you have a 30-day grace period to restore. After that, all your data is permanently purged.

5. Your Rights

You may at any time: access your data via Settings → Privacy → Download My Data; correct inaccurate data through the Profile screen; delete your account via Settings → Delete Account; withdraw consent for non-essential notifications via Settings → Notifications; and refuse or revoke advertising measurement using the device settings listed in section 3.

6. Security

All data in transit is protected with TLS encryption. All data at rest in Firebase is encrypted by default. Verification documents are accessible only to admin and moderator accounts; we never share them publicly or with other users.

7. Children

AQARY is intended for users aged 17 and older. We require date-of-birth confirmation before allowing any user to create a listing.

8. Contact

For privacy questions or to exercise the rights above, contact us via WhatsApp at +961 3 644194.

9. Changes

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material updates will require you to re-agree before continuing to use the App.