Privacy policy

Imad Ismail (Eindhoven, the Netherlands) is responsible for processing your personal data in the Thuis Ruilen app and on the website thuis-ruilen.nl. You can reach us at [email protected].

• Account: name, email address, profile photo (optional) and login method (email, Google or Apple). Needed to create and secure your account. If you use the app as a guest, we create an anonymous account without a name or email address.
• Email verified: whether your email address has been confirmed, shown to other users as a sign of trust.
• Listings: what you enter yourself, such as address or postcode, city, rent, rooms, description, photos and the location on the map. Listings are visible to other app users and to visitors of the website.
• Messages: the chat messages between you and other users, with date and time, so you can stay in touch. Messages can be translated automatically into the language the receiver has chosen; to do this, the text of the message is sent to Google Cloud Translation. The translation is stored next to the message and deleted together with the conversation or your account. If you choose “Don’t translate” in the app, messages to you are not translated. On the website the site language is used; the “Don’t translate” choice is set in the app.
• Home wishes: the cities, maximum rent, rooms and type of home you are looking for. We use them to show matching homes and, only if you switch it on, to send you a push notification about a new matching home. As a guest, your wishes are stored on your device only.
• Favourites, viewed homes, blocks and reports: to make Thuis Ruilen work and to prevent abuse.
• Usage and “last active”: the moment you last used the app, shown to other users as a sign of trust.
• Payments: you pay for placing a listing (€10) via Stripe. We only receive the amount, the date and the status; only Stripe sees your card or bank details.
• Device token for push notifications (app only): to notify you about new messages and (if you want) matching homes.
• Third-party ads – Google AdMob (app only): AdMob may use your advertising ID and device data. In the European Economic Area we ask for your consent first; you can change your choice at any time via Menu → Privacy & terms → Ad privacy choices.
• Usage statistics – Google Analytics for Firebase (app only): which steps in the app are used (for example saving wishes, starting a listing, paying, starting a conversation), to improve the app. Only with your consent in the privacy notice when you open the app; without consent we store nothing on your device. No advertising ID is used for this.
• Crash reports – Firebase Crashlytics (app only): when the app crashes, technical data about the error and your device (model, Android/iOS and app version), to fix bugs.

On thuis-ruilen.nl we show no ads and use no tracking or analytics cookies. We only store what the site needs to work:

• Staying logged in: Firebase Authentication keeps your login session in your browser’s storage. Logging out clears it.
• Language: we store the language you view the site in as a cookie (NEXT_LOCALE), so the site stays in your language.
• Draft of your listing: while you place a listing, we keep your input in your browser for a while, so it is not lost when you briefly go to your bank to pay (for example with iDEAL). The draft is cleared once the listing is placed.
• Paying: the payment form comes from Stripe. Stripe may use its own cookies to prevent fraud.
• Address lookup: when you place a listing, your postcode and house number are sent to the PDOK Locatieserver of the Dutch government to fill in the street, city and location.
• Hosting and security: the website runs on a server of Hetzner Online and traffic passes through Cloudflare. Technical data such as your IP address and browser are processed to deliver the site and protect it against abuse.

We process your data on the basis of performing our agreement with you (account, listings, messages, payments), consent (personalised ads, usage statistics, push notifications about homes) and legitimate interest (security, preventing abuse, crash reports and delivering the website safely).

• Google Firebase (storage, login, push notifications, server functions, usage statistics, crash reports), Google Maps and Google Cloud Translation (translating chat messages);
• Google AdMob (ads in the app);
• Stripe (payments);
• Apple and Google, if you log in with their account;
• Hetzner Online (website hosting) and Cloudflare (website security and speed);
• PDOK, the Dutch government (address lookup when placing a listing on the website).

These parties process data on our behalf or as independent parties under their own privacy policies. Data may be processed outside the EU; in that case this is based on the EU standard contractual clauses or the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. We never sell your data.

For as long as your account exists. If you delete your account, we automatically delete your profile, listings, photos, favourites, home wishes and your copy of your chats. Messages you sent to others remain in their chat history. We keep payment records for 7 years because the law requires it. Guest accounts that have not been used for 30 days may be deleted.

You have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict and port your data and to object, and you can withdraw your consent at any time. Email us at the address below; we reply within 30 days. You can also file a complaint with the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens).

You can delete your account directly on the website, in the app or by email: see Delete account.

Data is sent encrypted and is only accessible to those who need it: other users only see your listings and your profile name and photo, and only you and your chat partner see your messages. No method is 100% secure; in case of a data breach we act as the law requires.

Thuis Ruilen is intended for people aged 18 and over.

We may update this policy. We will let you know about important changes in the app and on this page.