Privacy policy

Last updated: 22 October 2026

Home Search ("we") is run by Home Search L.L.C. in Doha, Qatar. This page explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, and the choices you have.

What we collect

• Account details: your name, email address and password. Passwords are stored scrambled and can never be read, even by us.
• Google sign-in: if you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address and profile picture from Google.
• Profile: your display name, and the profile photo, WhatsApp number, agency name and short bio you choose to add.
• Agencies: when an agency applies, its name, phone, email, commercial registration and licence numbers and the licence document; later its logo, team photo and the agents who belong to it.
• Listings: the property details, photos, map location and contact details (name, phone, WhatsApp, email) you choose to publish.
• Messages: when you contact a lister, your name, email, optional phone number and message.
• Saved homes and searches: the homes you save (with their price when you saved them, so we can tell you if it drops), and the search filters you save with how often you want email alerts about them.
• Listing views: how many times each listing is viewed, counted per day without recording who viewed it, so listers can see their statistics.
• Featured credits: how many credits you or your agency have and how they were used.
• Security records: failed login attempts and your device's IP address, kept for up to 24 hours to block abuse.
• One-time links and codes: the links we email to confirm your email or reset your password, and the login codes sent to admin accounts. They are stored scrambled and deleted once used or expired.

Cookies and your browser

We use a cookie to keep you logged in, which the site needs to work, and, for a few minutes while you sign in with Google, small cookies that remember your language or that you asked to restore your account. We do not use advertising or tracking cookies. We count page visits anonymously, without cookies and without identifying you, to see which pages are used. Your list of homes to compare is saved only in your own browser and is never sent to us.

How we use it

• To run your account and show your listings, profile and agency to visitors.
• To pass your enquiry to the lister you contacted, and only to them.
• To send account emails, such as confirming your email address or resetting your password, and the new-home alerts you ask for. Every alert has a link to stop it.
• To keep the site secure and prevent spam and fake listings.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not send marketing emails.

Why we are allowed to use it

We use your information with your consent, which you give when you create an account, post a listing or send a message, or where it is needed to provide the service you asked for or to keep the site safe. We only collect what we need for these purposes. We do not ask for sensitive information such as health, religion, ethnic origin or criminal records.

Who processes it for us

We use trusted, well-known service providers to host the website, store our data and photos, send emails, show maps and play videos. They handle your information only to provide these services to us, in secure data centres, and are required to keep it safe. Some of them may store information outside Qatar; we make sure it is protected wherever it is kept. You can ask us at privacy@homesearch.qa for more details.

If Home Search L.L.C. is ever merged with, or sold to, another company, your information may pass to the new owner, who must continue to protect it as this policy describes.

What others can see

Your listings, with the photos, map location and contact details you add to them, your display name and profile photo, and your agency's public page are visible to everyone. Your account email is never shown. Agency registration numbers and licence documents are stored privately and seen only by our team, to check the agency is real, and by that agency's owner.

When you contact an agency or broker, or they publish contact details on a listing, that agency or broker handles the information under their own responsibility. Maps, videos, 360° tours, WhatsApp and Google sign-in are run by other companies under their own privacy policies.

How long we keep it

• Your account and listings stay until you delete them. You can delete a listing at any time from "My listings", and your whole account from your profile page (or ask us to).
• A deleted account and its listings disappear from the site at once, but are kept for 60 days in case it was a mistake: you can bring it back yourself by logging in within 30 days, and we can bring it back within 60 days. After 60 days it is erased for good, with its listings, photos and saved homes.
• Messages between visitors and listers are kept for up to 1 year, then deleted.
• Security records are deleted after 24 hours.

Your rights

Under Qatar's Personal Data Privacy Protection Law (Law No. 13 of 2016), you can at any time:

• Ask whether we hold your information, what it is used for, and get a free copy of it.
• Ask us to correct information that is wrong.
• Ask us to delete your information, or close your account.
• Withdraw your consent, for example by removing your photo or no longer using Google sign-in.
• Object to us using your information when it is not needed, or is unfair or unlawful.
• Be told if we have shared information about you that turns out to be wrong.

To do any of these, email privacy@homesearch.qa. We may ask you to confirm your identity first. We will reply within 30 days. You can also change most of your details yourself on your profile page.

If you are not happy with how we handled your information, you can complain to the National Cyber Governance and Assurance Affairs department of the National Cyber Security Agency (NCSA) in Qatar.

Keeping it safe

All connections to the site are encrypted, passwords are stored scrambled, and only a small number of our team can see personal information, and only when they need to. Accounts must confirm their email before they can log in, admin accounts need a code sent to their email at every login, repeated failed logins are blocked automatically, licence documents are stored privately, and the site only loads content from the providers listed above. We keep these protections up to date and use reasonable, industry-standard measures to protect your information. If a data breach could harm you, we will tell you and the National Cyber Security Agency as soon as possible, and within 72 hours.

Children

Home Search is for people aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect information about children. If you believe a child has given us their information, email privacy@homesearch.qa and we will delete it.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top of this page.

Contact

Questions about this policy: privacy@homesearch.qa