Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Explore Property ("we", "us", "our") is a property marketing platform operated from South Africa. We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 ("POPIA"), the General Data Protection Regulation (where applicable), and all other applicable South African data protection laws.

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and the rights you have over it. By using our website and services, you consent to the practices described in this policy.

2. Information Officer

Our Information Officer is responsible for ensuring our compliance with POPIA and is your point of contact for any privacy-related queries or requests. Our Information Officer is registered with the Information Regulator of South Africa.

• Information Officer: Bretton Worman
• Email: info@exploreproperty.co.za
• Postal: Explore Property, Information Officer, Unit 4, Barbeque Heights, Dytchley Road, Barbeque Downs, Midrand, 1684
• Registered with the Information Regulator of South Africa — Registration Number 2026-064277

3. Personal Information We Collect

We collect different information depending on how you interact with the platform:

3.1 Visitors (browsers)

• Anonymous usage data: pages viewed, device type, approximate location (city/region), browser and operating system.
• IP address (used only for security, fraud prevention and de-duplication of analytics events).
• Cookie identifiers — see our Cookie Policy for details.
• We process information about how the Platform and its listings are used (such as views, shares, map interactions, photo views and favourites), together with technical information such as your IP address and a session identifier, to produce statistics about properties and the Platform.

3.2 Buyers / Registered Users

• All of the personal information described in 3.1 above.
• Name, email address, and phone number when you create an account, subscribe to property alerts, request a callback, or submit a bond application.
• Property search preferences (location, price range, bedrooms, property type).
• Enquiry messages you send to agents, and any replies.
• Favourites and saved searches.
• Credit profile: where you make a credit declaration, or choose to use participating partner services related to your credit profile (such as a bond originator), a badge indicating your credit status may be displayed, only to agents with whom you have made an enquiry, and only once you have agreed to it on the Platform.

3.3 Agents

• Account details: name, email, phone, agency name, agent title, profile photo and bio.
• Verification and payment data (processed securely by our payment processors).
• For Agents who choose to pay by debit order (where offered): the debit order mandate and bank details captured through the Platform, which are processed by the payment processor.
• Listing data: property details, photos, pricing, and location coordinates.
• Subscription and billing information.

4. How We Use Your Information

We process your personal information for the following purposes:

• To operate, maintain and improve the platform and its features.
• To display property listings and connect buyers with the relevant agent.
• To send property alerts, enquiry notifications, and weekly performance reports to agents.
• To process payments and manage subscriptions.
• To detect, prevent and investigate fraud, abuse and security incidents.
• To comply with our legal, regulatory and tax obligations.

We never sell your personal information to third parties. We only process it for the lawful purposes set out above, and we rely on your consent, the performance of a contract with you, our legitimate interests as a business, and compliance with legal obligations as our lawful bases for processing.

5. Sharing With Third Parties

We share your personal information only where necessary to deliver our services or where required by law. Our key third-party service providers are:

• Payment processors — Paystack, Netcash (where offered) and any alternative payment processing provider we use, depending on the type of payment made. They process payments, subscription billing and, for Agents who select debit orders, debit order mandates and bank details. We do not store full card numbers.
• Map provider — interactive mapping, geolocation and address search for property pins.
• Sign-in providers — to let you sign in with your email address or with a third-party sign-in provider you choose (currently Google, and others we may add in future).
• Bond originators and other participating partner services — only where you choose to use them.
• Cloud hosting providers — to store and serve the platform, listings and images.
• Email delivery services — to send notifications, alerts and reports.
• AI service providers — to power the AI features on the platform, for example the listing chat assistant. They receive the text you type into those features and the listing details needed to answer.

When you enquire on a listing, the details you provide in the enquiry form (name, phone, email, message) are shared with the agent who owns that listing so they can respond to you. We do not share your information for third-party marketing purposes without your consent.

Enquiries you send about a property are delivered to the agent or agency responsible for that listing, who is responsible for that information. We process it for them on the Platform.

6. Retention of Personal Information

We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes above:

• Active account data: for the duration of your account, plus 12 months after closure for audit and dispute resolution.
• Listing analytics & enquiry records: up to 24 months after the listing is removed.
• Payment and tax records: 5 years, as required by South African tax law.
• Anonymous/anonymised analytics: retained indefinitely in aggregated form.
• Enquiry messages between buyers and agents: 24 months.

After the retention period expires, we securely delete or anonymise the information. You may request earlier deletion where the law permits (see Your Rights below).

7. Data Subject Rights

Under POPIA you have the right to:

• Access — request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Correction — ask us to correct inaccurate or outdated information.
• Deletion — request deletion of your personal information (subject to legal retention requirements).
• Object — object to the processing of your information for specific purposes.
• Withdraw consent — withdraw consent at any time where processing relies on it.
• Complain — lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa).

To exercise any of these rights, contact our Information Officer at info@exploreproperty.co.za. We will respond within 30 days of receiving a complete request.

8. Security

We implement reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information. Your information, both in transit and in storage, is secured using industry-standard safeguards, and access to it is restricted to those who need it.

9. Cross-Border Transfers

Some of our service providers (such as our map provider and sign-in providers) process data outside South Africa. Where we transfer your personal information internationally, we ensure it is protected to a standard equivalent to POPIA, for example by relying on providers that comply with recognised data protection frameworks.

10. Cookies

We use cookies and similar technologies to operate the site, remember your preferences, and analyse traffic. For full details of the cookies we use and how to manage them, please read our Cookie Policy.

11. Children

Explore Property's platform and services are reserved for persons aged 18 years and older. We do not knowingly collect or otherwise process minors' personal information. If you believe that a minor's personal information has been submitted to or collected by Explore Property without the necessary authorisation, please notify us at info@exploreproperty.co.za. We will promptly investigate and, where no lawful basis exists for retaining or otherwise processing the information, take reasonable steps to cease processing and securely delete or destroy it.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision. Material changes will be highlighted on the platform. Continued use of the platform after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

13. Sign in with Google and Google User Data

You can create an account and sign in to Explore Property with your Google account ("Sign in with Google"). This section explains how we handle the Google user data involved. It adds to the rest of this policy.

13.1 What Google user data we access

When you choose Sign in with Google, Google shares only your basic profile with us: your name, your email address and your profile picture. We do not ask for anything else. We do not access your Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Google Contacts or any other Google service, and we never receive your Google password.

13.2 How we use it

• To create your Explore Property account and sign you in.
• To show your name on your account.
• To contact you about your account and your activity on the platform, such as property alerts you set up and enquiry notifications.

We use Google user data only to provide and improve these user-facing features. We do not use it for advertising of any kind (including personalised, targeted or retargeted advertising), we do not sell it, and we do not give it to data brokers or information resellers. We do not use it to develop, improve or train artificial-intelligence or machine-learning models.

13.3 Who we share it with

We do not share, transfer or disclose Google user data to anyone, except:

• our service providers that host and run the platform on our behalf, who may use it only for that purpose (see section 5);
• the agent you choose to contact, if you send an enquiry using your account details; and
• where we are required to do so by law.

13.4 How we store and protect it

Your account details, including the Google user data above, are stored with our authentication and database provider. They are protected as described in section 8: industry-standard safeguards in transit and in storage, including encrypted connections, with access restricted to those who need it to run the platform.

13.5 How long we keep it and how to delete it

We keep this information for as long as your account is open and for the period set out in section 6. You can ask us to delete your account and the Google user data we hold about you at any time by emailing info@exploreproperty.co.za with the subject line "Privacy / POPIA Request". We will respond within 30 days. You can also remove Explore Property's access at any time in your Google Account settings, under Security, in the list of third-party apps and services with access to your account. That stops Google from sharing further data with us.

13.6 Google API Services User Data Policy

Explore Property's use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

14. Contact

For any privacy enquiries, please contact our Information Officer:

• Email: info@exploreproperty.co.za
• Subject line: Privacy / POPIA Request