What we collect and why

Short version: you can read everything here without an account and without being tracked for advertising. We only hold something about you if you subscribe, create an account, or post.

If you subscribe to the newsletter

We store your email address, the page you subscribed from, the date and time, the exact wording you agreed to, and your IP address. The IP is kept because it is how we evidence that the subscription was genuine and how we detect automated abuse. We are not sending anything yet. When we do, every email will carry an unsubscribe link; in the meantime, email us and we will take you off the list.

We do not sell your address, and we do not pass it to anyone for marketing.

If you create an account

You can sign in with Google or with an email address and password. We store your display name, your email address, and, where you use Google, the account identifier Google returns so we can recognise you next time. We never receive your Google password. If you set a password here it is stored hashed, never in plain text.

Your display name is public on anything you post. Your email address is not, and is used only for moderation and to contact you about your account.

Comments and discussion posts

If you post publicly, your display name and the content of your post are visible to everyone as soon as you post. Posts are checked automatically before they are stored, and a moderator can remove one afterwards. You can delete your own posts at any time.

We record the IP address a post was made from, to handle abuse. It is never shown publicly. If you attach an image it is re-encoded before it is stored, which removes any camera metadata it carried, including location. The image itself is public and stays public until you or a moderator deletes it.

Processors we use

Accounts, posts and subscriptions are stored in a managed Postgres database. Uploaded images are held in managed file storage. The site is hosted on Vercel. If you sign in with Google, Google confirms your identity to us and tells you what it shares at the point you agree. Each provider processes the data only to deliver that specific function.

Cookies and analytics

Necessary. A cookie keeps you signed in if you have an account, and another remembers your cookie choice so we do not ask again. These are required for the site to work and cannot be switched off.

Analytics. We use Google Analytics to understand which answers people read and how they arrive. It operates under Google Consent Mode: until you allow analytics cookies, it is prevented from storing anything on your device or identifying you, and only an anonymous, cookieless signal is recorded so we can count visits. If you allow analytics cookies, it measures visits in the ordinary way. Either way it is never used for advertising and we do not use it to build a profile of you.

Performance. Vercel Analytics and Speed Insights, provided by the company that hosts this site, count page views and measure how quickly pages load. They set no cookies and do not track you between websites.

You can change any of this at any time using the Cookies link in the footer.

How long we keep it

Posts stay until you delete them or ask us to. Newsletter records are kept until you ask to come off the list. Account records are kept while the account exists. To have anything removed sooner, email privacy@dubairealestateadvice.com. You do not have to give a reason, and we will confirm when it is done.

Your rights

Under the UAE Personal Data Protection Law you can ask what we hold about you, ask for it to be corrected or deleted, and withdraw consent at any time. Deleting your account removes your posts along with it, so tell us if you would rather keep the posts and remove only the account.