Legal

Privacy Policy

This is an English translation of our German privacy policy (Datenschutzerklärung) provided for your convenience. In case of doubt the German version is authoritative.

1. Controller

2. Collection and storage of personal data

When you visit this website, general technical information is recorded automatically (server log files): browser type, operating system, referrer URL, host name of the accessing computer, the time of the request and the IP address. This data is not merged with other data sources and is not evaluated to identify individual visitors; the log files are deleted automatically after 14 days at the latest. Legal basis: Art. 6 (1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in the secure operation of the website).

3. Contact form

If you send us enquiries via the contact form, the details you enter (in particular first and last name, email address, phone number if given, and the content of your message) are processed to handle your enquiry, to contact you and to manage your request, and are stored in a CRM system (customer management system).

We run this CRM system on the technical platform “Piscione Platform”. The provider of this platform processes the data solely on our behalf and according to our instructions under a data processing agreement pursuant to Art. 28 GDPR. Your data is not passed on to uninvolved third parties.

Legal basis: Art. 6 (1)(b) GDPR (initiation or performance of a contract or brokerage relationship) and Art. 6 (1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in handling enquiries and managing prospect and customer contacts).

The data remains in the CRM system for as long as your enquiry or the business relationship exists, and afterwards until the statutory periods end (see Retention and deletion).

3a. Housing search (rent or buy)

If you set up a housing search via our “Housing search” or “Suchauftrag” pages, we process the details from the form: name, email address, phone number if given, your status (e.g. member of the US forces, civilian employee, contractor or private individual) with optional details on branch, pay grade and duty station, your timeline (arrival, move-in, current accommodation), your household (number of adults, ages of children, pets, smoking household), your current place of residence and work, for rental searches optionally your type of employment and a range of your net household income, and your search criteria (towns, school zones, house or apartment, features, budget; for purchases optionally equity and financing status). Income and equity are seen only by us; they do not appear in any email and are not passed to any landlord or seller without your consent. The sole purpose is to handle your housing search: we match new listings against it, get in touch and send you suitable properties.

Automatic matching (profiling): new listings are compared with the criteria of your housing search automatically and matching properties are sent to you (profiling within the meaning of Art. 4 No. 4 GDPR). This produces suggestions only – no automated decision with legal effect is made about you; whether a property is offered to you is always decided by a person.

Consent by submitting: by sending the form you consent to this processing (Art. 6 (1)(a) GDPR); no separate checkbox is required and the form says so before you submit. Insofar as the initiation of a rental or purchase contract is concerned, Art. 6 (1)(b) GDPR is an additional legal basis. You can withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future and end the housing search – in My Area or with a short message by email, phone or WhatsApp.

Confirmation email (double opt-in): after submitting you receive an email with a confirmation button and a code. Only once you confirm do we send you listings automatically. We store the time of confirmation as proof of your consent (Art. 7 (1) GDPR).

Recipients: your details are stored in our CRM system on the “Piscione Platform” (data processing on our behalf, see section 3). We do not pass them on to third parties. Landlords or sellers receive your contact details only when you agree to a specific property.

Retention: for as long as your housing search or your account exists. If you end the search or withdraw your consent, we stop sending listings; we then keep your details only until the statutory periods end (see Retention and deletion).

3b. Data processing in the course of brokerage

If you engage us as a seller or contact us as a prospective buyer (e.g. via property portals, classifieds, email or phone), we process the data required to perform the brokerage agreement: master data (name, address, contact details), property data, correspondence and – for prospective buyers, on a voluntary basis – financing details.

As a real estate broker we are an obliged entity under Section 2 (1) No. 14 of the German Money Laundering Act (GwG). We must identify the parties to a brokered purchase contract and collect and document ID data for this purpose (Sections 10, 11 GwG). This processing is required by law.

Legal bases: Art. 6 (1)(b) GDPR (contract and pre-contractual steps), (c) (legal obligations, in particular GwG, AO, HGB) and (f) GDPR (legitimate interests, e.g. documentation of the brokerage service).

Recipients: prospective buyers or sellers (where both sides are interested), property portals (property data, no personal data), notary (on conclusion of the contract), financing bank (only at the buyer's request), tax advisor and tax authorities (where required by law).

Retention: contract records 10 years, invoices 8 years, correspondence 6 years, GwG documentation 5 years after the end of the business relationship (then destroyed), brokerage records 5 years; prospects without a brokerage agreement 1 or 3 years – details and legal bases under Retention and deletion.

3c. My Area (personal customer area)

After confirming your housing search or in the course of a property enquiry you may voluntarily set up a personal area (“My Area”). There you can see your housing search, change, pause or end it, find the properties you enquired about with us and upload documents. For this we process your email address, a password (stored only as a cryptographic hash, never in plain text) and, for security, the time and IP address of your logins and failed login attempts. Legal basis: Art. 6 (1)(b) GDPR (use of the customer area) and (f) GDPR (protection against misuse). The link to set up your area is shown only on the confirmation page; it is valid for one hour and can be used once.

3d. News by email (newsletter)

We send you market reports, tips and new properties by email only if you agree separately – via a dedicated switch on the confirmation page of your housing search or in My Area. The switch is off until you turn it on yourself; your housing search does not depend on it. Suggestions for your own housing search (section 3a) are independent of this.

Legal basis is your consent (Art. 6 (1)(a) GDPR, Section 7 (2) No. 2 of the German Unfair Competition Act, UWG). As proof we store the time, IP address, browser identifier and the exact wording of the consent text (Art. 7 (1) GDPR). Consent can only be given after you have confirmed your email address or are logged in (double opt-in).

Withdrawal: at any time with effect for the future – with a switch in My Area or with a short email. After that you receive no further news. We keep the proof of consent and withdrawal for 3 years after withdrawal (see Retention and deletion). Recipients: our CRM system on the “Piscione Platform” (processing on our behalf); no transfer to third parties.

4. Cookies & consent

By default this website uses only technically necessary storage entries (localStorage) required to run the site (e.g. your cookie decision). Tracking or analytics cookies are set only if you actively consent.

On your first visit a banner appears where you can accept or decline Google Analytics; both buttons are designed equally. Together with your decision we store in your browser the time and the version of the consent text – this is the proof under Art. 7 (1) GDPR and is stored nowhere else. Your decision is valid for twelve months, after which you are asked again; likewise if the consent text changes in substance. Your decision is kept in your browser's storage and applied automatically on later visits. You can withdraw your consent at any time with one click – via the button below or the “Cookie settings” link in the footer of every page, which shows the current status and allows both: giving and withdrawing consent. After a withdrawal no further analytics data is transmitted and the cookies set by Google Analytics are deleted.

Withdraw consent now

5. Fonts and icons – fully self-hosted

This website loads no fonts and no icons from third-party servers. The fonts used (Inter, Playfair Display, Dancing Script, each under the SIL Open Font License 1.1) and the Lucide icon library (ISC licence) are stored on the same server as the website and delivered from there. No connection to Google, Bunny Fonts, jsDelivr or any other provider is established and no IP address is transmitted to third parties. Until 4 August 2026 fonts were loaded via Bunny Fonts and icons via jsDelivr; both were changed for privacy reasons.

5b. External services – Google Analytics 4

This website uses Google Analytics 4 (GA4), a web analytics service of Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. Google Analytics is activated only if you actively consent in the cookie banner.

If you consent, Google Analytics sets cookies and collects anonymised information about your use of this website (pages viewed, time spent, country of origin and whether a form was started, a form step reached or a form submitted – without the contents entered). IP anonymisation is enabled – your full IP address is not stored. The data collected is processed on Google servers and may be transferred to countries outside the EU/EEA. Google bases such transfers on standard contractual clauses (Art. 46 (2)(c) GDPR).

Legal basis: Art. 6 (1)(a) GDPR (consent). You can withdraw your consent at any time (see section 4). You can also permanently disable data collection by Google Analytics at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout. Google privacy policy: policies.google.com/privacy.

6. Contact via WhatsApp

This website offers a link to WhatsApp. If you contact us via WhatsApp, we process your phone number and the content of your messages to handle your enquiry.

WhatsApp is operated by Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd., 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland. When using WhatsApp, data may also be transferred to servers of Meta Platforms, Inc. (USA). Meta bases this transfer on standard contractual clauses of the EU Commission (Art. 46 (2)(c) GDPR).

Legal basis for our processing: Art. 6 (1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in being quickly and conveniently reachable) or Art. 6 (1)(b) GDPR (pre-contractual steps). We have no influence on the data processing by Meta/WhatsApp itself. WhatsApp privacy policy: whatsapp.com/legal/privacy-policy-eea.

6b. External services – Google Workspace (Gmail, Drive, Calendar)

For internal business communication and the handling of customer enquiries we use Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) of Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. The services used include Gmail (email), Google Drive (document management) and Google Calendar (scheduling).

If you contact us by email, your messages and the personal data they contain (e.g. name, email address, content of the enquiry) are processed and stored on Google servers. Data may also be transferred to countries outside the EU/EEA. Google bases such third-country transfers on standard contractual clauses of the EU Commission pursuant to Art. 46 (2)(c) GDPR.

We have concluded a data processing agreement (Data Processing Amendment) with Google pursuant to Art. 28 GDPR. Your data is not passed on to third parties for advertising purposes.

Legal basis: Art. 6 (1)(b) GDPR (pre-contractual steps / performance of a contract) and Art. 6 (1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in professional, secure business communication). Google privacy policy: policies.google.com/privacy.

6c. Retention and deletion

We keep your data for as long as your account (“My Area”), your housing search or a matter with us is active – that is how long the purpose exists. Once it ends, we keep the data only as long as the law requires us to or as long as claims could still be raised. During that time the data is blocked (Section 35 (3) German Federal Data Protection Act, BDSG; Art. 17 (3)(b) and (e) GDPR): we no longer use it, no longer contact you and no longer show it in day-to-day work. After that it is anonymised and files are destroyed. The periods in detail:

• Enquiry without a viewing: if you only requested an exposé or sent us a message and there was no viewing, no full exposé with the address and no application – 1 year after the last contact (counted from the end of that calendar year).
• Enquiry with a viewing, full exposé, reservation or application, but no brokerage agreement: 3 years after the last contact (also counted from the end of the calendar year; limitation period, Sections 195, 199 German Civil Code, BGB), because questions of liability and proof can still arise in that time.
• Rental applications: if you are not selected, we destroy your application documents (self-disclosure, proof of income, ID) 6 months after the property has been let or after the rejection – to the day. We need them that long to defend against claims under the General Equal Treatment Act (Section 21 (5) AGG). They are also removed from the landlord's view at that point.
• With a brokerage agreement: the contract, the withdrawal information, signature records and the other frozen records are kept for 10 years (claims against the broker become time-barred after 10 years at the latest regardless of knowledge, Section 199 (3) BGB; Art. 17 (3)(e) GDPR). Invoices and accounting records: 8 years (Section 147 (3) German Fiscal Code, AO; Section 14b VAT Act). Correspondence, notes and matter history: 6 years (Section 147 (1) AO, Section 257 HGB). Brokerage records under the Broker and Property Developer Ordinance: 5 years (Sections 10, 14 MaBV). Each period starts at the end of the calendar year in which the matter ended.
• Money Laundering Act: identification data (ID data, beneficial owners) 5 years after the end of the business relationship, then destroyed as required by law (Section 8 (4) GwG) – even if other data about you is kept longer.
• Owners: photos, videos and tours of your property are deleted immediately on request once the sale or letting is complete, otherwise together with the contract records. On this website the property may appear as a reference for a limited time (usually 12 months).
• My Area: if your account or your housing search sees no activity for 2 years (no login, no reply), we email you once to ask whether you want to keep it. If we hear nothing within 30 days, the account is closed, the search ends and the periods above start. Your documents remain available for download until then. Login times and IP addresses are kept for 12 months for security and then deleted.
• Consent and block list: proof of consent given and withdrawn (time, IP address, browser, the exact text) is kept for 3 years after withdrawal or after the end of use (Art. 7 (1) GDPR). If you object to advertising or withdraw a newsletter consent, we keep a hashed form of your email address or phone number on a permanent block list – without your name – so that we do not contact you again (Art. 21 (3) GDPR).
• Backups: encrypted backup copies are overwritten after 30 days at the latest; deleted data therefore disappears from backups with that delay.

Deletion on request: you can ask us to delete your data at any time before these periods end (Art. 17 GDPR) – a short email is enough. We then delete everything that is not subject to a statutory retention period or needed to defend claims; the rest is blocked until the period ends and then deleted. We reply within one month (Art. 12 (3) GDPR).

7. Your rights under the GDPR

You have the following rights regarding the personal data concerning you:

• Right of access (Art. 15 GDPR)
• Right to rectification (Art. 16 GDPR)
• Right to erasure (Art. 17 GDPR)
• Right to restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR)
• Right to data portability (Art. 20 GDPR)
• Right to object to processing (Art. 21 GDPR)

To exercise your rights please contact: jana@piscioneimmobilien.de

8. Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority

You have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority about the processing of your personal data. The competent authority in Rhineland-Palatinate:

9. Currency and changes to this privacy policy

This privacy policy is currently valid and dated October 2026. Further development of our website or changed legal or regulatory requirements may make it necessary to amend this privacy policy.

Last updated: October 2026 – Piscione Immobilien, Jana Piscione