Privacy Policy
1. About this policy
This policy explains what personal information Housal collects, why we collect it, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and the rights you have over it.
It applies to everyone — people who browse Housal without an account, registered users, buyers and tenants who send an inquiry, and the owners, agents, brokers, developers and advertisers who publish properties.
Housal is responsible for the personal information described here, except where this policy says another party becomes responsible for a copy of it.
2. Your rights
Under the Data Privacy Act of 2012 you have the right to:
- be informed that your personal information is being collected and processed;
- access the personal information we hold about you;
- object to processing, including processing for direct marketing;
- have inaccurate information corrected;
- have your information erased or blocked where it is incomplete, outdated, false, unlawfully obtained, or no longer necessary for the purpose it was collected;
- obtain a copy of the information you gave us, in a commonly used electronic format;
- claim damages where you suffer harm from inaccurate, incomplete, outdated, false or unlawfully obtained information; and
- complain to the National Privacy Commission.
To exercise any of these, use Contact Housal. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.
Before asking us to erase everything. Some information is necessary for us to provide the service. If you ask us to erase information we need to operate your account, we will explain that, and it may mean closing the account. Some records we are required to keep by law, or need in order to handle a dispute or investigate fraud, and we will tell you when that applies.
3. If you want to complain
Use Contact Housal first and we will look into it. You may also complain directly to the National Privacy Commission, which supervises data protection in the Philippines.
4. What we collect
If you browse without an account — your IP address and the general location derived from it, your device and browser type, the pages you view, and cookies and similar technologies described in the Housal Cookie Policy.
If you create an account — your name, email address and mobile number; your password, stored only in an encrypted form we cannot read; your profile details, including photograph, company or brokerage and, where relevant, professional licence or accreditation details; your city, country, timezone and language; and sign-in records including the time and IP address used.
If you send an inquiry about a property — your name, email address and mobile number; the message you write and the property it concerns; your IP address and browser information; and how you arrived at Housal, including the referring page and any campaign identifiers.
If you use Housal messaging — the messages you send and receive and who they were between; which property the conversation concerns; when each message was sent, delivered and read; and any moderation event, such as a message blocked for containing contact details.
If you publish a property — the listing content you upload, including photographs and descriptions, and your changes to it over time.
If you subscribe to a paid service — billing information and payment records. We do not store your full card number; card details are handled by our payment provider.
If you allow notifications — the technical subscription that lets us send a notification to your device.
5. Why we use it, and on what basis
| What we use it for | Why we may |
|---|---|
| Creating and running your account | To perform our agreement with you |
| Publishing your listings and showing them to people searching | To perform our agreement with you |
| Passing your inquiry to the advertiser so they can reply | To perform the service you asked for |
| Verifying your email address, and later your mobile number | Our legitimate interest in reducing fraud and impersonation |
| Operating Housal messaging, including blocking prohibited content | Our legitimate interest in keeping the platform safe |
| Taking payment and issuing receipts | To perform our agreement, and to comply with tax and record-keeping law |
| Sending service messages about your account, inquiries or subscription | To perform our agreement with you |
| Sending you marketing about Housal | Your consent, which you may withdraw at any time |
| Detecting and investigating fraud, scams and misuse | Our legitimate interest, and compliance with law |
| Understanding how the site is used so we can improve it | Our legitimate interest, using aggregated information wherever possible |
| Responding to a lawful request from an authority | Compliance with law |
6. When you send an inquiry, the advertiser receives your details
When you send an inquiry about a property, we pass your name, email address, mobile number and message to the owner, agent, broker, developer or advertiser responsible for that listing so they can respond. That is the purpose of the inquiry and it cannot be done without sharing those details.
Once they receive your information, that advertiser becomes independently responsible for their copy of it. They decide how they contact you, how long they keep your details, and how they answer any request you make to them. Housal remains responsible for its own copy.
Under the Housal Terms of Service, advertisers must respond in good faith, must not use your details for anything other than replying unless they have a lawful basis, and must stop contacting you if you ask them to. If an advertiser misuses your details, tell us — we can act on their account, and you may also complain to the National Privacy Commission.
7. Who else we share information with
We do not sell your personal information.
We share it with the advertiser you contacted, as described above; with service providers who process information on our behalf under instruction and a duty of confidentiality — our email provider for messages and notifications, our payment provider, our hosting and storage providers, and our analytics providers; and with authorities or other parties where the law requires it, or where it is necessary to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim, or to protect someone's safety.
Some providers operate outside the Philippines. Where information is transferred abroad we take steps to keep it protected to the standard the Data Privacy Act requires.
8. Analytics and advertising technologies
Housal uses Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity and PostHog to understand how the site is used.
These record how you interact with pages. They may set cookies and may collect your IP address and device information. Clarity records the session in which what you type is masked.
We do not run advertising pixels. There is no Meta or Facebook pixel and no advertising remarketing tag on Housal. If that changes, the Cookie Policy will say so before the change goes live.
Which technologies run, what each collects, and how to refuse the non-essential ones is set out in the Housal Cookie Policy.
9. How we protect your information
We use technical and organisational measures appropriate to the risk — encrypted connections, encrypted storage of passwords, access limited to people who need it for their work, and monitoring for unusual activity.
No system is completely secure. Keep your password confidential and tell us if you think someone else has your credentials. If a breach occurs that is likely to put you at risk, we will notify you and the National Privacy Commission as the law requires.
10. How long we keep it
We keep personal information only as long as we need it.
- Account information — while your account is open, and for a period afterwards to handle any dispute or legal obligation.
- Inquiries and messages — while your account is open, and afterwards as a record of what was communicated, to handle complaints and disputes and to detect fraud.
- Listings — while published, and afterwards as a record of what was published, as described in the Terms of Service.
- Payment and billing records — for the period tax and accounting law requires.
- Sign-in and security records — for a limited period, for security and fraud prevention.
- Analytics information — usually in a form that no longer identifies you.
When we no longer need information, we delete it or render it anonymous.
11. Children
Housal is not intended for children. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has given us information, tell us and we will remove it.
12. Sensitive information
We do not ask for sensitive personal information — such as information about health, religion, political views, or government-issued identifiers — except where it is genuinely necessary, for example to verify a professional licence, and then only on the appropriate basis. Please do not include sensitive information in listings or messages.
13. Other websites
Housal contains links to websites we do not control. This policy does not apply to them. Read their own privacy policies before giving them your information.
14. Changes, updates, and your responsibility to stay informed
Housal may at any time update, amend, modify, replace, supplement or otherwise change this document, the Housal services, subscription plans, features, prices, requirements, policies and procedures, and any other terms applicable to your use of Housal.
Housal may make a change for any reason — including changes to its business, its services, technology, security, operations, legal or regulatory requirements, pricing, subscription plans, features, or the way Housal operates.
The current version of this document is always available on Housal.
You are responsible for keeping yourself informed of the current version of Housal's documents, policies, services, subscription plans and requirements. Review them from time to time, and before you continue using a service, renew a subscription, or enter into a new transaction with Housal.
Each document carries a version number and effective date. Housal keeps previous versions for its records.
Where applicable law requires notice of a change, or requires your acceptance of it, Housal will give that notice or obtain that acceptance. Except where the law requires otherwise, Housal is not required to obtain a fresh individual acceptance every time a document is updated.
Your continued use of Housal after the effective date of an updated document constitutes your acceptance of it, to the extent permitted by applicable law.
If you do not agree with an updated document, you are responsible for discontinuing the relevant use of Housal, or cancelling the relevant service or subscription where a cancellation method is available.
The version you accepted, and the date you accepted it, is recorded and available to you.
15. Contact
To ask about this policy, exercise a right, or raise a concern, use Contact Housal.