Privacy policy
Last updated Nov 8, 2026
This page explains what SouqEmirates collects when you use the site, why, who it is shared with, how long it is kept and how you control it. It follows the UAE Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL).
What we collect
- Your account: e-mail address, first and last name, and the phone number you give us.
- Your ads: photos, title, description, price, area and category details. Photos are re-encoded and their hidden data (including GPS location) is removed.
- Messages you send to other users through the site.
- Businesses: the trade licence and details you send for verification.
- How the site is used: pages viewed, searches and clicks, linked to your account or to a random browser id. We use no advertising trackers and no third-party cookies.
- Payments, when paid features start: the payment provider handles your card; we never see or store card numbers.
Why we use it
- To run the marketplace: publish your ads, let buyers find and contact you, and keep your account working.
- To keep the site safe: automatic checks on ads and reviews, limits against spam and abuse, and blocking accounts that break the rules.
- To improve the site with statistics, which we look at in totals, not person by person.
- To verify businesses and meet legal duties.
AI features
- Some features use AI services: writing an ad from your photos, suggesting a price, spotting visible defects, translating ads, checking ads for rule breaks, understanding searches and voice searches. The text, photos or audio needed for that feature are sent to the AI provider (Anthropic, Voyage AI, OpenAI for voice) only to produce the result.
Who sees your data
- Everyone: your ads and your public profile name.
- A buyer who asks: your phone number, one request at a time, limited and logged.
- The services we run on: Supabase (database and files, in Frankfurt, EU), Vercel (hosting), Cloudflare (bot protection), the AI providers above, our e-mail provider and, for paid features, Stripe. They process data only for us.
- Authorities, when the law requires it.
How long we keep it
- Ads stay until you delete them or they expire; expired ads can be renewed.
- When you delete your account, it is hidden at once and your personal data (name, phone, e-mail, ads, reviews, favourites, saved searches) is erased after 30 days. Messages stay with the people you wrote to, shown from a deleted user.
- Usage records are kept for 13 months, then deleted; records of deleted accounts are made anonymous.
Your choices and rights
- See and download your data: Account → Settings → Download my data.
- Correct it: edit your profile and ads at any time.
- Delete your account: Account → Settings → Delete account.
- E-mails: choose which ones you get in Account → Settings.
- Two-step sign-in with an authenticator app protects your account further.
Contact
- Questions or requests about your data: privacy@souqemirates.ae. We answer within 30 days.